Liberalism Key thinkers
- Created by: PoliticsandHistoryNerd
- Created on: 17-03-21 11:39
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- key thinkers for liberalism
- John Locke (1632-1704) wrote Two Treaties of Government (1690)
- the state was not created by God nor is the monarchy legitimised by 'divine right' instead the state is created by a social contract between the ruler and its people - Government by consent.
- should the government break this agreement the people can rise up and remove the government
- people would not willingly submit to an arbitrary rule because it's not in their interests to so. The state should serve the individual not the other way round
- 'state of law' the state can resolves issues between individuals better than in nature
- the state should be limited in its interference in society and economy as to not infringe on individual freedoms
- there should be tolerance between different religious and political views
- the state was not created by God nor is the monarchy legitimised by 'divine right' instead the state is created by a social contract between the ruler and its people - Government by consent.
- Mary Wollstonecraft(1759-1797) wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
- she had a positive view of human nature seeing men and women as equally rational
- all citizens should have equality under the law-she campaigned for women's right to own property
- she supported Locke's idea of formal equality and social contract. (by not giving women the vote this was not government by consent) she thought divine right was absurd and supported the American revolution (1776) and the french revolution (1789)
- formal education for women and men was vital as it would give them self-respect and help them achieve their potential
- marriage had to be a truly equal partnership so women could choose between having a career or children
- John Stuart Mill (1806-73) wrote On liberty (1859)
- restraint of the state, individuals can be free to do whatever they desire providing that their actions do not harm others - the harm principle
- 'self-regarding' actions such as religion or freedom of speech should be supported by the state but 'other regarding' actions that can harm others should not be tolerated.
- Mill believed that individual liberty was essential for the individual in terms of creativity, culture and intellect. if individuals focus on improving themselves society would flourish
- he opposed popular democracy and instead supported representative democracy.
- he later changed his views to allow the state to intervene to help individuals achieve their potential.
- John Rawls (1921-2002) wrote A Theory of Justice (1971)
- his key idea was 'justice and fairness' and he believed that people would agree to an enabling state if they were in a position of ignorance
- an enabling state would provide a welfare state (health and education etc)
- he added the idea of social and economic equality to the traditional idea of foundation equality.
- Nozick argued that these ideas were a betrayal of liberalism and the ideas were closer to socialism.
- Betty Friedan (1921-2006) wrote The Feminine Mystique (1963) The Second Stage (1983)
- Friedan argued strongly for individual freedom and argued that gender was a serious hindrance for womenshe believed that women were the main victims of a lack of opportunity.
- she was influenced by classic liberalism in her belief that if the state allowed equality of opportunity then women as individuals could have a successful combination of marriage, motherhood and career.
- She also supported Modern liberals ideas that an enabled state would be the vehicle in which patriarchal values could be dismantled including state benefits for single, divorced or widowed mothers.
- John Locke (1632-1704) wrote Two Treaties of Government (1690)
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