Liberalism - Key Thinkers Flashcards
1
Q
John Locke (1632-1704)
A
- a philosopher and wrote about the social contract theory
2
Q
John Locke - social contact theory
A
- government should be reliant on consent from voters not imposed on them from above
- individuals choose to leave the state of nature and give up some of their individual powers to the government (Locke)
- individuals join together to form society and consent to lose some f their indivuals powers in order to gain laws,judges and an executive
- indivuals are rational and therefore believe its in their own best interest to consent to the government
3
Q
John Locke - limited government
A
- supported idea of limited gov rather than lack of gov
- ‘where laws do not exist, man has no freedom’
- state can protect from harm
- indivuals have right to their own property
- state should protect and individuals “life, liberty and estate”
4
Q
Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97)
A
- Wollstonecraft wa a prominent first wave feminist
- most famous publication was “a vindication of the right of women’
5
Q
A Vindication of the rights of women
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- Wollstonecraft argued in this text that men and women are both rational being that should be treated equally
- ‘the mid has no gender’ - men and women have the ability for reason and rationality but women have been dined education and so may seem less rational
- therefore women should be educated to be rational members of society
6
Q
Wollstonecraft - formal equality
A
- supported formal equality for women - equal rights
- would give women liberty which they were unable to have when constrained by the patriarchy
- also advocated for careers for women
7
Q
John Stuart mill (1806-73)
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- a 19th century liberal thinker, who was famous for writing “on liberty”
8
Q
Mill - “on liberty” (freedom)
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- set out his view of the harm principle
- focuses on importance of indivuals freedom and how its vital to society
-mill believes that all individuals have free will and responsibly for their own actions
9
Q
Mill - the harm principle
A
- idea that individuals can do as they like as long as they don’t harm other indivuals
- Mill argues that the only acceptable intervention in an indivuals liberty by the state should be to stop someone from harming another indivuals and limiting their freedom
- supports a limited state
- should not be able to undertake actions that limit another persons freedom
10
Q
John Rawls (1921-2002)
A
- was a liberal political and moral philosopher from America
- ‘a theory of justice’
11
Q
Rawls - ‘ a theory of justice’
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- Rawls tried to resolve the problem of balancing freedom & equality in a ‘a theory of justice’
- argued that freedom and equality can be balanced in a principle he called ‘justice as fairness’
- idea that the pickles of justice in society are the principles of justice in society are he principles that everyone in society would agree on if they assessed society from a position of ignorance
12
Q
Rawls - veil of ignorance
A
- Rawls proposed a experiment in which a indivuals has to imagine which society they would want to live in but they were unable to know their position in society
- argued that all individuals would want to to live is a society with a fair justice system, a good education system and equality of opportunity
13
Q
Rawls - challenges to veil of ignorance
A
- the veil of ignorance has been challenged - philosophers have argued that it does not take into account the possibility of some people choosing an unequal society in hopes of gaining more
