Liberalism: Society Flashcards
AGREE: Wish to create a meritocratic society
Liberals are united in their wish to create a meritocracy. A liberal society is one where everyone has foundational and formal equality; this creates equality of opportunity. This embraces the notion of a meritocracy, where each and every individual has the chance either to rise or fall, success is based on merit rather than privilege. William Summer best put it ‘the drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be’. Mary Wollstonecraft, a classical liberal feminist, wished to extend formal equality to women who were restricted of opportunities within society due to patriarchal attitudes. Later, Betty Freidan a modern liberal feminist was influenced by classical liberalism is her belief that if formal equality were to be extended to women, they could achieve the successful combination of a career, marriage, and motherhood. So, liberals want a society where individuals enjoy the same advantages that allow them to achieve success on merit.
AGREE: Society is separate from the state
All liberals believe a civil society, in what they describe as a ‘realm of freedom’, should be separated from the government, a ‘realm of coercion’. Societies that are controlled by the state are not free societies. However, the state needs to step in if ‘self regarding’ actions are overtaken by ‘other regarding actions’, J.S.Mill termed it the ‘harm principle’. Way down the line, this principle was upheld by John Rawls, who agreed that everyone is entitled to the widest possible liberty, consistent with the liberty of all.
DISAGREE: Differing views on state involvement in society - this depends on how liberty is defined.
For classical liberals, liberty is a ‘negative’ concept, so the state must confine itself to that of a ‘night-watchman’, to pose as little constraints on the freedom of individuals as possible. John locke infamously quipped “the end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom”. In contrast, modern liberals see liberty as a ‘positive’ concept. Individual freedom means self-actualizing, becoming the best person you can be. So, as proposed by William Beveridge in the ‘Beveridge Report’ (1942), state provision of extensive welfare is needed to tackle the ‘five giant’ evils threatening the liberty of the less fortunate - “a hungry man is not a free man”.
DISAGREE: Differing views on how to achieve a meritocracy
classical liberals endorse a strict meritocracy based on the extension of formal equality to create fairness, and the removal of state intervention to act as an incentive. In contrast, modern liberals argue that although a strict meritocracy is just, it does not result in social justice. In ‘A theory of justice’ (1971) John Rawls, a modern liberal, using the idea of an abstract ‘veil of ignorance’, Rawls demonstrates that to ensure everyone equal life chances an ‘enabling state’ is needed to intervene to provide extensive welfare to act as a ‘hand up’ for the disadvantaged in society.
