Liberalism
Yuwanto, Ph.D.
• Outline
Meaning of liberalism
Origin of liberalism
Development of liberalism
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What does liberalism mean?
– “A liberal is a person who believes in
liberty”
(Maurice Cranston)
– Liberalism is the belief in the importance of
liberty and equal rights (the primacy of the
individual as a central theme)
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Liberal ideas resulted from the breakdown of
feudalism in Europe and the growth of a
market or capitalist society
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Term ‘Liberalism’ first used and only became
associated with a clear set of ideas and
beliefs in the 19th century
– The 19th century was in many ways the liberal
century
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– Western political systems have also been
shaped by liberal ideas and values, so much
so that they are commonly classified as
liberal democracies
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Liberalism is the ideology of the industrialized
West. During the 20th century, however, it
became fashionable to portray liberalism as
morally neutral
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The moral and ideological stance of liberalism is
embodied in a commitment to a distinctive set of
values and beliefs, namely:
– The individual
– Freedom
– Reason
– Justice
– Toleration and diversity
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Origins
1. Political Liberalism
2. Economic Liberalism
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1. Political Liberalism
John Locke (1632-1704) employed the concept
of natural rights and the social contract to
argue that the rule of law should replace
absolutism in government, that rulers were
subject to the consent of the governed, and
that private individuals had a fundamental
right to life, liberty, and property
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John Locke
1689 – published two works:
– Two Treatises of Government – outlined the
case for representative and constitutional
government
– A Letter Concerning Toleration – defended
the right of religious dissent
Both now seen as classic works of liberalism
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2. Economic Liberalism
Adam Smith (1723-1790) an intellectual and
‘Father of Capitalism’ who said: “Humans
motivated by self interest and they should be
free to pursue profits”
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Adam Smith
He expounded the theory that individuals
could structure both moral and economic life
without direction of the state, and indeed,
that the nations which would be the strongest
would be those that left individuals free to
follow their own initiative
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He advocated the end of feudal & mercantile
regulations, state granted monopolies &
patents, and is seen as the promulgator of a
principal of "laissez-faire" or "let [it] act" --
minimal government intervention in the
functioning of the free market.
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His most famous work, The Wealth of Nations
(1776), tried to explain how an unregulated
market would naturally regulate itself via
aggregated individual decisions
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Development:
1. Classical Liberalism
2. Modern Liberalism
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As industrialisation increased throughout the 19th
century, divisions developed amongst liberals and
two different strands of liberalism emerged:
1. Classical liberalism: traditional laissez-faire
2. Modern liberalism: greater emphasis on
government intervention, particularly in
areas such as welfare
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Is there a distinct set of ideas associated with
Liberalism?
1. THE INDIVIDUAL
• How important is the individual in our society
today?
• There is debate within Liberalism with regard to
how important the individual should be
(Egotistical Individualism versus Ethical
Individualism)
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Egotistical Individualism
• Classical liberal viewpoint
• Emphasis on self-interest and self-reliance
Ethical Individualism
• Modern liberal viewpoint
• Society should be constructed in a way that can
benefit the individual
• Modern liberals place the ‘flourishing’ of the
individual above self interest.
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2. FREEDOM
"Give me Liberty or give me Death!”
(Patrick Henry)
– Individual freedom is a belief common to all
liberals. However, there are a number of
different position that liberals have adopted
on the issue of freedom
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• Early or classical liberals saw liberty as a
natural right which gave individuals the
opportunity to pursue their own lives
• Later or modern liberals see freedom as
enabling people to flourish and develop the
skills needed to achieve their potential in life
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How much freedom should an individual
have?
• John Stuart Mill (‘On Liberty’ 1859) distinguished
between self-regarding and other-regarding
actions. i.e. a person should be free to do
anything they wish providing their actions
do not impact on another person’s
freedom.
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Today, liberals have played a decisive role in
the growth of republics, the spread of civil
rights and civil liberties, the establishment of
the modern welfare state, the institution of
religious toleration & religious freedom, and
the development of globalization
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Alan Wolfe: “liberalism is the answer for
which modernity is the question”
Argued that over time, however, Liberalism
has moved from a set of revolutionary ideas to
a set of conservative ideas
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