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John Locke, Two Treatises of Government
'the liberty of man in society is to be under no other legislative but that established by consent in the commonwealth, nor under the dominion of any will, or restraint of any law, but what the legislative shall enact, according to the true trust put in it.'
-> Locke rejects idea of any from of gov established WITHOUT CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. -
Period: to
Enlightenment: origin of Liberalism
- individuals have fundamental right to personal freedom -liberty entails responsibility(actions should not harm others/curtail the individual's own freedom)
- existence of StATE & laws to enforce this responsibility
- liberal state = accountable to ppl -equal rights for all groups, tolerance, diversity, equality of opportunity -more recently: social justice: wealth should not be achieved at the expense of the poorer members of society. -COMPATIBLE W BOTH CONS and SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC movements
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The Social Contract, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Humankind = unjustifiably controlled by pol and social restraints
'Man is born free, but everywhere is chains.'
-> chains = restraint upon exercise of an individual's rights
-> natural rights for all -
American Revolution
Inspired by a desire for freedom
eg Americans: refuge from increasingly autrocratic rule of the Br Crown -
American Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jeferson:
'all men are created equal, are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.' -
Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
'new economic order was inhabited by individuals with free will, who would pursue their own self-interest as they saw fit'
'invisible hand'
governments should be restricted to ensuring that all obey the law, and should steer clear of economic management -
Utilitarianism, Jeremy Bentham
Human beings are motivated to pursue pleasure and avoid pain -> freedom is to be allowed to ake those decisions for ourselves and to act on them
Gov should only prevent us from preventing others from pursuing their self-interest -
Invention of term 'ideology' by Antoine de Tracy
'science of ideas'
< Enlightenment period + reconstruction of French society(1789 revolution) -
French Revolution
Desire to gain freedom from undemocratic institutions
'Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité' -
Period: to
Liberal Party of Great Britain, William Gladstone
One of its aims: greater equality of opportunity
eg. elementary education for all, entry to professions open to a wider spectrum of society
(realisation that there is a 'cycle of deprivation', doctrines of equal rights and individual liberty were conflicting with each other -
Benjamin Constant
Individual liberty is not just a radical concept (eg Rousseau) but it has become a practical aspiration. -
John Stuart Mill
'true' freedom based on absence of constraint -
Th. H. Green: positive liberty
Society = organic
Citizens = interdependent as well as independent
not merely motivated by self-interest, but also by a desire to promote the common good! -
Period: to
20th century modern liberalism
-Attention-> tolerance towards minority groups, eg. gay ppl, ethnic, religious groups, censorship (media and arts)
-liberals tolerate different beliefs but there are limits to this tolerance: if security of state/freedom of ind are threatened/ppl incited to commit crimes/act in a violent way/discriminate against groups .. => freedom of expression should be curtailed
- individuals are influenced by soc-economic circumstances: not always responsible for actions
- tolerance over personal morality -
William Beveridge: creator of welfare state
Availability of welfare for all (eg education, healthcare, social security) would expand the opp for all, no matter their circumstances of birth => equality of opportunity was largely taken up in Britain by Labour Party -
Isaiah Berlin, 'positive'/'negative' freedom
'negative': absence of restraint.