Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am a young PhD student who has just started the second year of the 4-year PhD programme. I am a political scientist specializing in British colonial political history, mainly South Africa and Ireland.
Some time ago, I finished writing a draft of my article on the question of liberty in the British Commonwealth, where the Irish Free State was a case study. The paper argues that understanding liberty as non-interference (Berlin, JS Mill and Bentham) was a foundation of the British policy towards its Dominions. It made the Commonwealth look more like a British colonial club, which was serving the interest of the Crown, and not a confederation of freely associated members (like the EU). Another argument is that Dominions, on the other hand, were subconsciously standing on the Republican understanding of liberty (Pettit, Mill, Harrington). The research uses Ireland to illustrate the abyss between the two concepts. It shows that the passionate Irish antagonism towards the Commonwealth was, to some extent, a result of that polarization of the viewpoints.
My question is the following. One of the respected reviewers has given me a comment that I must precisely explain how the two systems with their outlook on liberty apply to the question of collective freedom, the freedom of states, and not individuals. Thus, could you please help me with that? I felt that such an issue would pop up but was postponing its resolution until the comments arrived. How may I explain the application of the two outlooks to the freedom of the states? When does an individual transform into a collective? Is it possible to see a state as an equivalent of a living organism nowadays (IMHO, it is such an outdated and controversial concept that I would not dare following it to justify my logic)?
PS I was lucky to get comments from Skinner himself; however, I would love to hear as many thoughts as possible.
Thank you for any comments and recommendations.
Warm regards :)