Liberalism Flashcards
How do all liberals tend to view Human Nature?
- People are rational, capable of perceiving their own interests and taking own decisions
- Hold a positive view
- Believe good society tolerated different values, beliefs and customs
- People should be free to use own skills
How does Classical Liberalism view human nature?
- Only be restrictions on the individual is they threaten the freedom of others - driven by Harm Principle (Mills)
- Negative freedom - freedom from oppression form the state
How do Modern Liberals view human nature?
- More conscious of social injustice, favour the state intervening to allow people to better themselves
- Positive freedoms - protect people from themselves
How do classical liberals view the society?
- Downplay importance of society, see it as a collection of individuals
- Advocate meritocracy
- Believe in foundational equality - everyone is born equal
- Linked to notion of formal equality - same political and legal rights
How do modern liberals view society?
- Believe foundational & formal equality don’t go far enough
- People should be free but society is more than a sum of individuals it contains
- Necessary for state to intervene to create fairer society
How do Liberals tend to view the state?
- A Social contact between people and state - people give up some freedom for protection but state can be overthrown if it fails
- Believe in Limited government with checks and balances to prevent abuses of power by state
- Support decentralisation of power
How do Classical liberals view the state?
- It is a necessary evil - restriction over the state is required to prevent abuse of powers as leaders will act in own interests not others
- Idea of the night watchman state protecting individuals from harm
How do modern liberals view the state?
• View it as necessary but less evil - desire for it to be enabling to aid people to achieve their full potential in life
How do classical liberals think the economy should be handled?
- Belief in the free market, capitalist economics best serves by a minimally intervening state
- The market should be able to regulate itself (prices, wages, investment), individuals enter into contracts as employer and employee of their own choice
How would Modern liberals handle the economy?
- Still believe in a free market and that individual choice is paramount
- But recognise more intervention that promotes sustainable growth and limits to injustice in society - Keynesian economics
What are the 5 most important values of liberalism?
- Individualism
- Freedom
- Justice
- Reason
- Toleration (social democracy)
Define individualism and how each branch of liberalism subscribe to it
Definition : belief in the supreme importance of the individual over any social group or collective body
- Classical liberals: egotistical individualism (emphasis on self interest and relienace)
- Modern liberals: developmental individualism (prioritises human flourishing)
Both want the individual to be able to develop into fullness of their potential
What is freedom? How do liberals vary in their view of it?
Freedom: ability to act and think as one wishes
- Classical liberals: believe in negative freedoms (an absence of exteneral restrictions on the individual)
- Modern liberals: believe in positive freedoms (to be autonomous on order to develop skills and talents)
What do liberals think about reason?
- Knowledge stems from reason rather than experience
- Believe that conflict can be settled through debate & negotiation
- Don’t like aggression or force unless in self protection or all other means exhausted
How do Liberals view justice?
- Say everyone is born with foundational equality
- Want law to ensure everyone’s rights are upheld (motivates their support of constitutionalism)
- Want everyone to have equal opportunity and for society to be a meritocracy where people are justly rewarded for the effort they put into their work
- Believe social equality is unjust as it treat individuals as the same when they aren’t
What is toleration? Why do liberals endorse it?
Toleration: willingness to accept views or actions even if someone disagrees with them
- Liberals desire a society where everyone is accepted for their beliefs due to a desire for a pluralist society
- Believe that private matters should be left to the individual
- Sau that this will ensure social harmony in a society of individuals
KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What were his main ideas in Two Treaties of Government?
- Opposed power unconstrained by law
- Both rulers and people must be subject to law
- Limited government and gaining consent to govern
KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What helped to form Locke’s philosophy?
- Idea of natural rights and laws - everyone is given the same rights and must respect others. No one has a god given right to govern
- Reason - argued no rational person would not submit to arbitrary rule
KEY THINKER
John Locke 1632 - 1704
What other ideas did Locke hold?
- Property was a natural right
- The state should serve the individual
- The social contract: society and state in theoretical contract - people observe state rule of state protects people and shows toleration. If government fails to do this then people have right to overthrow it
KEY THINKER
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 -1797
What were her key ideas in A Vindication of the Rights of Women?
• Believed that women were not less rational than men and therefore entitled to the same rights
KEY THINKER
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759 -1797
What else did Wollstonecraft advocate for?
- Formal equality - wanted women to be granted full civil liberties, allowed to have a career (not be economically dependent on men)
- Argued best way to get formal equality was thrift education to gain self respect and realise potential
- Said marriage must be equal partnership, tyranny of the male over female prevented people from being good citizenship
- Said biologically women were more likely to opt for motherhood but wanted women to have a choice/equality of opportunity
KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What ideas did Mill put forward in ‘On Liberty’?
• The harm principle - the government should only intervene if behaviour of the individual could adversely affect other’s freedoms (but does not extend to freedom of speech/association)
KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What influenced Mill’s ideas?
• Utilitarianism - influences idea that individuals were best suited to judge own interests but disagreed that it was always in pursuit of pleasure/avoidance of pain
KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What else did Mill believe?
- There was a danger to the tyranny of the majority, he wanted minority’s to be able to express their view
- Believed in equality of genders, advocates for votes for women
KEY THINKER
John Stuart Mill 1806 - 1873
What happened to Mill’s views over time?
- Changed to say that some state intervention was required to prevent the poor from injustice
- Began to endorse inheritance tax because transmission of wealth have people an advantage over others
KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What ideas does Rawls put forward in ‘A Theory of Justice’?
- Rejects utilitarianism for not taking into account a variety of desires
- Wanted to reconcile individual freedom with excessive social inequality
- Important to create society with economic justice
KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What other two idea are attributed to Rawls?
- The veil of ignorance theory - if someone was to create an ideal society not knowing what position they would hold they would create a society with small degree of inequality but rewards for talent (a modern liberal society)
- Political liberalism - revising liberalism to include principle alongside equal right and economic justice
KEY THINKER
John Rawls 1921 - 2002
What other ideas did Rawls hold?
- Accepted a degree of inequality but wanted to minimise difference between top and bottom of society
- Rejected extreme of communism as well as unregulated capitalism in favour of ‘property owning democracy’ where ownership widely distributed and poorest are economically independent
KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
What are Friedan’s most notable influences?
- Writing the Feminine Mystique
- Founded the National Organisation of Women - aimed to bring women into the mainstream of society alongside men, secure freedom laws in federal government
KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
What influenced Friedan’s philosophy?
The belief that individuals are of equal worth and entitled to equal rights regardless of gender
KEY THINKER
Betty Friedan 1921 - 2002
Name other ideas that Friedan held?
- Conditioning drive women to become wives/mothers over biology, led to women not achieving full potential
- Like Wollstonecraft said motherhood wasn’t not bad/lesser but wanted women to have a choice
