Early Classical Flashcards
1
Q
Human Nature
A
- Egotistical individualism = advocates for a minimal state where self-interested (innate) individuals know their needs and are self-reliant.
- Negative liberty = the absence of restraint to achieve their potential.
- Has the capacity for reason and altruism (looks after each other whilst pursuing their own goals) = reflecting their core belief.
2
Q
Locke on HN
A
Rational, guided by the pursuit of self-interest, but are mindful of other concerns. Enables them not to have destructive tendencies.
3
Q
Wollstonecraft on HN
A
- Rationalism and individualism applies to both genders; intellectually not different and are equal.
- Women require a formal education to develop their rationality and potential, regardless of society’s views.
- Argued that the period’s treatment of women was a general affront to reason and to the individual liberty of half the adult population
4
Q
State
A
- Seen as a necessary evil to uphold law and order.
- Limited state co-exists with a minimal state.
- Social contract - representatives shouldn’t act as the masters of the people, reflecting its insistence upon natural rights and the separation of power.
5
Q
Locke on State
A
- Denied the principle of a monarch’s divine right to rule from God. Should be created by mankind and arises only through the govt’s consent.
- Limited govt to protect our freedom, by dispersal and separation of powers, as ‘where laws don’t exist a man has no freedom’ - no intervention in the economy.
- Contractual nature: state represents citizens’ needs (improving their situation) and requires their consent.
6
Q
Wollstonecraft on State
A
- Seeks to replace the monarchical state by a republic which enshrines women’s rights - as cannot vote, it violates liberalism’s principle of ‘government by consent’.
- Implies women are irrational, denying them individual freedom and formal equality.
7
Q
Economy
A
- No state intervention in the economy, supporting a minimal state and negative freedom.
- Pro-Laissez-faire capitalism, so wealth will ‘trickle down’ as capitalism has a limitless capacity to enrich society and its individuals.
- Advocated end of tariffs that ‘protect’ domestic producers and instead, promoted the spread of free trade between nation-states and their commercial classes.
8
Q
Locke on Economy
A
State policy should respect the ‘natural right’ to private property and arbitrate effectively between individuals competing for trade and resources.
9
Q
Wollstonecraft on Economy
A
Free trade market economy would be energised by the enterprise of liberated women, allowing them to educate themselves and achieve their potential by working.
10
Q
Society
A
- Believes it should be geared towards maximum individual freedom, as society is a sum of autonomous individuals.
- Individuals should be allowed to pursue education in order to unlock their innate powers of reason.
- Did not accepted total tolerance of all of society - needs some checks.
11
Q
Locke on Society
A
- Prior to the state’s existence, there was a natural society with natural laws and rights. It rejects the conservative view that no society could arise without formal authority (a state).
- Locke excluded from toleration atheists, whom he considered inherently immoral, and Roman Catholics, whose morals he judged harmful to society.
12
Q
Wollstonecraft on Society
A
- Oppressed women, stifling female individualism.
- ‘Infantilized’ women by conceiving women as weak, emotional creatures, complicit in their subjection and states they desire only marriage and motherhood.
