With the ignorance of those who do not precisely measure the magnitude of the issue, the honorable Franรงois-Xavier Bellamy, Member of the European Parliament, recently claimed the “sacred and inviolable” freedom of each person against the State’s impositions in matters of health.
The issue is important, as it pertains to one of the fundamental elements of civil coexistence, namely, where the boundary lies between individual freedom and the community’s self-protection.
The Romans, masters of law, encapsulated it with striking efficiency: “Sub lege libertas, dura lex sed lex.” Marcus Tullius Cicero developed this idea in the famous phrase: “Legum servi sumus ut liberi esse possumus.”
Clearly, the State has the right to subordinate private rights to a higher public interest.
It is on this legal basis that the obligation of healthcare lies when the situation warrants it and an administrative act legitimizes it.
In the essay “On Liberty” by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), a manifesto of civil coexistence for a liberal society, the author specifies that an individual is free to pursue their own interests as long as they do not harm the interests of others.
The Kantian categorical imperative resonates in the background.
Karl Popper summarized this ethical principle with a metaphor: the freedom of movement of my fist is limited by the position of my neighborโs nose…
