Liberalism Flashcards
(31 cards)
When did liberalism emerge?
During the Reformation, and the Enlightenment movement during the 17th century.
What are liberalism’s core ideas on human nature?
- optimistic and universal view of human nature
- individuals are guided by reason and rationality
- humans’ innate reason manifests itself through debate, in order to forge progress through consensus
- individuals are self-seeking and self-serving (egotistical individualism)
What stops individuals leading to destructive selfishness and competition, according to liberals?
Humans innate capacity for rationality. Humans are both egotistical and reasonable.
What is the natural condition of human nature according to liberals?
It is one of self-aware individuals, living in harmony and mutual understanding.
What is liberalism’s view on society?
Locke proposed the existence of ‘natural’ society, with ‘natural’ rights and ‘natural’ laws, which preceded the state. For liberals, life before the state was pleasant and civilised.
What is the main purpose of civilised society according to liberalism?
main purpose of civilised society is to facilitate individualism
What is individualism?
Individuals need to be at heart of political thought, economic life and social organisation. Society should prioritise the improvement of individual lives.
As a result of individualism, what should liberal politicians seek to do?
Maximise the number of individuals achieving self-determination.
Maximise number of individuals achieving self-realisation.
Maximise the number of individuals attaining fulfilment.
Why is the right to property so important for liberals?
It is seen as a tangible expression of an individual within society. For Mill, it is the ‘prism’ through which individuals develop their potential.
What is liberalism’s view of the economy?
- supports an economy that puts private property at the centre of its approach (I.e. support capitalism)
What was Adam Smith’s theory of markets book called?
The Wealth of Nations (1776)
What was the invisible hand?
According to Adam Smith, if the obstacles to free trade were removed, the invisible hand would of market forces would guide traders towards success.
What was the basis of trickle down economics?
Any resulting wealth from the invisible hand, would trickle down to everyone. Reflects optimistic tone of liberalism.
What is liberalism’s view of the state?
Liberals believe that individualism and capitalism work best when accompanied by a certain kind of state.
What was the state of nature?
A philosophical device used by Hobbes and Locke to justify the different types of political state they were proposing. It referred to what life might have been like before laws, and governments came into being.
What was liberalism’s view on the state of nature?
While liberals are optimistic, they also accept that there would have been clashes of interests between people. Locke believed that only a state could resolve these clashes efficiently.
What is the liberal state founded upon?
It is based on a rejection of the ‘traditional’ state.
What does the rejection of the traditional state involve?
It rejects states marked by monarchical, absolutist, and arbitrary rule, that was often found previous to the Enlightenment.
What was Locke’s quote regarding the the liberal objective of government by consent?
‘government should always be the servant, not master, of the people’
What was the social contract?
Developed by Rousseau, the state should be a deal between governments and those governed. Citizens should be guaranteed certain rights in return for submitting to the state’s laws.
Why does the liberal state advocate for the promotion of tolerance?
Particularly developed by Mill, he argued that the state should tolerate all actions and opinions unless they violated the harm principle.
What is the harm principle?
Individuals should be free to do and say anything unless it harms the rights of other individuals within the state.
What is meritocracy?
Political power should be exercised only by those who show themselves to be worthy.
Why is meritocracy a principle of the liberal state?
It stands against the traditional state (hereditary rule) and it compliments liberalism’s emphasis on individualism.
