Liberalism Flashcards
(26 cards)
Key Liberal Thinkers?
1) John Locke
2) Mary Wollstonecraft
3) John Stuart Mill
4) John Rawls
5) Betty Friedan
Locke Key Ideas
1) Private Property
2) Natural Society
3) Natural Rights
4) Negative liberty
5) Inherent rationality
6) Govt by consent
Two Treatises of Government (1689)
Wollstonecraft Key Ideas
1) Women are rational
2) Women need equality or it isn’t true equality
3) Supported French Revolution
4) Against tradition & hierarchy
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792)
John Stuart Mill Key Ideas
1) Harm Principle
2) Need for tolerance
3) Negative liberty
4) Focus on human potential
5) Tyranny of the majority
6) Utilitarianism
On Liberty (1859)
John Rawls Key Ideas
1) Positive liberty
2) Larger state to provide equality
3) “veil of ignorance”/ “original position”
4) Equality of opportunity
5) Rationality = support for fairer society
A Theory of Justice (1971)
Betty Friedan Key Ideas
1) Equality of opportunity
2) State needs to provide gender equality
3) Women are rational
The Feminine Mystique (1963)
Views of human nature?
1) Rational
2) Natural rights
3) Individualistic
4) Optimistic
Views of society?
1) Collection of individuals
2) Natural society
3) “Original position”
4) Small state
Views of State?
1) Govt by consent
2) Limited govt
3) Protects property rights
4) Enlarged state
Views of economy?
1) Capitalism - laissez-faire or mixed
2) Property rights
Wealth of Nations - Adam Smith
Types of Liberalism?
1) Early Classical Liberalism
2) Late Classical Liberalism
3) Modern Liberalism
4) Neo-liberalism
Main features of Classical Liberalism?
1) Minimal State
2) Laissez-faire
3) Property Rights
4) Utilitarianism
5) Negative Liberty
What is utilitarianism?
- Jeremy Bentham
- Each individual works to maximise utility (e.g. happiness)
- State needs to help as society grows - support for democracy
Main features of Modern Liberalism?
1) Enlarged state
2) Equality of opportunity
3) Positive Liberty
4) Social liberalism
Main features of Neo-liberalism?
1) Laissez-faire
2) Minimal govt
3) Property Rights
4) Negative liberty
BONUS: T.H. Green Key Ideas
1) Positive Liberty
2) Need to eliminate poverty through state
3) State should promote morals
Prolegomena to Ethics (1883) - posthumous
Tensions over Society?
Agree:
- Bunch of individuals
Disagree:
- CL: Natural society
- ML: State needed to perfect
- NL: No society
Tensions over Economy?
Agree:
- Private Property
- Capitalism
Disagree:
- CL+NL: Laissez-faire
- ML: Keynesian
Tensions over State?
Agree:
- Fragmented power
- Govt by consent
- Representative democracy
Disagree:
- CL+NL: Minimal govt
- ML: Enlarged govt
Tensions over Human Nature?
Agree:
- Naturally rational
- Distrust direct democracy
Disagree:
- ECL: Innately rational
- LCL+ML: Develop rationalism
Background on Locke?
- During Reformation and Enlightenment
- Father fought in English Civil War
- Invested into slavery
- Doctor to Whig Party founder
Background on Wollstonecraft?
- Unstable, poor household
- Travelled to France 1792
- Influenced Jane Austen
Background on JSM?
- Jeremy Bentham was his tutor
- Colonial administrator to India
- MP for Liberal Party
- Argued for voting rights for both men and women
Background on T.H. Green?
- Active member of Liberal Party
- Influenced by rapid social change
- Influence on Rawls
