Liberalism: OutlineLiberalism: Outline

Varieties of Liberalismhistorical circumstancesconceptions of freedomfour functions of ideology

Welfare-state Liberalism and Socialism

Liberal democracy

What is Liberalism?What is Liberalism?When you hear someone is a

liberal, or a particular proposal or policy is liberal, what do you think this means?◦Think general principles

A liberal ______ (person/politician, proposal, policy, and so forth) is:

1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________

A liberal is…A liberal is…

Inclined toward reducing role of government

Tolerant toward unusual, deviant persons, actions

Concerned with protecting rights of unpopular minorities

Liberal policies…Liberal policies…Higher taxes social welfareAgainst restricting freedom of

expression, action (e.g., abortion, smoking marijuana)

Protecting rights of defendants in criminal cases

Restricting power of police to gather evidence, extract confessions

Liberal?Liberal?

Yes and NoClassical liberals (e.g., John

Stuart Mill) and modern libertariansoppose governmental intrusion into

private sphereModern welfare, welfare-state, or

reform liberalsfavor state intervention

Liberalism definedLiberalism defined

Derived from Latin word liber, meaning “free”

Championed freedom of individual from unjustified, unnecessary restrictions or restraintsMiddle Ages = religious worship and

economic activity

Rise of LiberalismRise of LiberalismDemise of feudalism Increasing trade, commerce

Merchant capitalist break down barriers to tradeProtestant Reformation papal, priestly

power Individualism, new ideas

Individual sovereign, endowed with natural rights, life and liberty

State should serve individual, not other way around

Liberal revolutions of 17th and 18th = England, 13 colonies, France

Worry of CriticsWorry of CriticsHow can order be maintained in a society whose members are freed from traditional religious and economic restraints?

Would not such “masterless men” ride roughshod over each other?

If older restraints no longer sufficed, what was their substitute?

Thomas HobbesThomas Hobbes

Leviathan (1651)Perfect liberty = “state of nature” grave danger, insecurityLife “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish,

and short”To bring solitary individuals into

civil relations of cooperation, harmony required agreement – compact, social contract

John LockeJohn Locke

Social contract only means by which individual liberty and social order could be reconciled◦Specify rights of individuals◦Limit government’s right to restrict actions and activities of citizens

IndividualismIndividualism

Hobbes and Locke agreed civil society rests on consent of rational, self-interested individuals concerned with protecting lives and property

Defenders of individualismIndividual sovereign ruler of his/her

own person core of LiberalismFreedom viewed through

individualist lenses

Primacy of libertyPrimacy of libertyLocke = every person possesses

right to “life, liberty and property”Jefferson (Declaration of

Independence) = “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness”

Primacy of liberty; second only to life

Model of freedom as triadic relation◦(A) agent◦(B) barrier or obstacle◦(C) aim or goal

AgentAgent

Individual ◦Not class, caste, rank, or order to

which he/she belongs◦Isolated, self-governing sovereign

Freedom = absence of restrictions◦Unencumbered by obstacles or

barriers

Barriers or ObstaclesBarriers or ObstaclesRestrictions, limitations (laws, rules,

regulations, restrictive customs, traditions) that arbitrarily inhibit, impede, limit, or hinder actions, movements, choices of individuals, particularly in private or personal sphere of thought and conduct◦ Sharp distinction between public and private

spheresSphere of private belief (especially

religion) liberty absolute◦ State has neither right nor authority to tell

citizens what to believe, how to worship

Goals or AimsGoals or Aims Various – freedom of religion,

travel/emigrate, vote, run for public officeRights of individuals to pursue their goalsPursuing and promoting one’s self-interestFree of feudal ties and other restrictions,

most individuals “naturally ” promote own well-being◦ pursue “right to life, liberty, and property”

Two social institutions to protect and promote rights – Free market and Liberal state

Free MarketFree MarketIndividuals pursue interests in competition

with othersPre-liberal moral codes condemned self-

interested behavior as sinful, unjustBernard Mandeville and Adam Smith

believed “selfish” behavior rational and socially beneficial◦ “Private vices” (Mandeville) have way of

becoming “public benefits” in long runAdam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)

◦ “Invisible hand” of market◦ natural “propensity to truck, barter, and

exchange”

The StateThe State“More visible hand”Scope and power should be minimal,

severely limited restricts freedom of citizens◦ “that state governs best which governs

least”Role limited to making, enforcing laws

needed to promote public and private dealings (e.g., contracts)

Protect individual rightsAct where free market does not,

cannot

Two sides of LiberalismTwo sides of Liberalism

Liberalism (late 19th and 20th centuries)

Disagreement about how much “free market” can achieve, how well it can provide socially necessary services

Two sides of Liberalism – economic and ethical – in tension