Liberal ideas resulted from the breakdown of feudalism in Europe and the growth, in its place, of a market capitalist society. In its earliest form, liberalism was a political doctrine, which attacked absolutism and feudal privilege, instead advocating constitutional and, later, representative government. By the nineteenth century, a distinctively liberal political creed had developed that extolled the virtues of laissez-faire capitalism and condemned all forms of economic and social intervention. This became the centrepiece of classical, or nineteenth-century, liberalism. From the late nineteenth century onwards, however, a form of social liberalism emerged which looked more favourably on welfare reform and economic management. This became the characteristic theme of modern, or twentieth-century, liberalism.

Liberal thought is characterised by a commitment to individualism, a belief in the supreme importance of the human individual, implying strong support for individual freedom. From the liberal viewpoint, individuals are rational creatures who are entitled to the greatest possible freedom consistent with a like freedom for fellow citizens. Classical liberalism is distinguished by a belief in a ‘minimal’ state, whose function is limited to the maintenance of domestic order and personal security. Classical liberals emphasise that human beings are essentially self-interested and largely self-sufficient; as far as possible, people should be responsible for their own lives and circumstances. As a result, liberals look towards the creation of a meritocratic society in which rewards are distributed according to individual talent and hard work. As an economic doctrine, classical liberalism extols the merits of a self-regulating market in which government intervention is both unnecessary and damaging. Classical liberal ideas are expressed in certain natural rights theories and utilitarianism, and provide a cornerstone of the libertarian political tradition.

Modern liberalism, however, exhibits a more sympathetic attitude towards the state. This shift was born out of the recognition that industrial capitalism had merely generated new forms of injustice and left the mass of the population subject to the vagaries of the market. This view provided the basis for social or welfare liberalism, which is characterised by the recognition that state intervention can enlarge liberty by safeguarding individuals from the social evils that blight their existence. The theoretical basis for the transition from classical to modern liberalism was provided by the development of a ‘positive’ view of freedom. Whereas classical liberals had understood freedom in ‘negative’ terms, as the absence of external constraints upon the individual, modern liberals linked freedom to personal development and self-realisation. This created clear overlaps between modern liberalism and social democracy.

Liberalism has undoubtedly been the most important element in Western political tradition. Indeed, some identify liberalism with Western civilization in general. One of the implications of this is that liberalism strives not to prescribe any particular conception of the good life, but to establish conditions in which individuals and groups can pursue the good life as each defines it. The great virtue of liberalism is its unrelenting commitment to individual freedom, reasoned debate and toleration. Criticisms of liberalism have nevertheless come from various directions. Marxists have criticised the liberal commitment to civic rights and political equality because it ignores the reality of unequal class power; feminists argue that individualism is invariably construed on the basis of male norms which legitimize gender inequality; and communitarians condemn liberalism for portraying the self as asocial and acultural and for failing to provide a moral basis for social order and collective endeavour.

John Locke Locke championed the cornerstone liberal idea that government arises out of the agreement, or consent, of the governed, outlined in social-contract theory. In this view, the purpose of government is to protect natural rights (for Locke, the rights to life, liberty and property), but when the government breaks the terms of its contract its legitimacy evaporates and the people have the right of rebellion. Lockian liberalism laid down the basis for limited government, representation and constitutionalism, and greatly influenced the American Revolution.

John Stuart Mill : Mill’s importance to liberalism rests largely upon his construction of a liberal theory squarely based upon the virtues of liberty, as opposed to earlier ideas such as natural rights and utilitarianism. His conception of ‘man as a progressive being’ led him to recoil from interventionism, but encouraged him to develop a notion of individuality that stresses the prospects for human development and provides an important foundation for modern liberal thought.

Thomas Hill Green (1836-82) A UK philosopher and social theorist, Green highlighted the limitations of early liberal doctrines and particularly laissez-faire. By drawing upon Kant and Hegel, he highlighted the limitations of the doctrine of ‘negative’ freedom, and developed a pioneering defence of ‘positive’ freedom which helped liberalism to reach an accommodation with welfarism and social justice. Green was an important influence upon the development in Britain of ‘new liberalism’. His chief works include Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation (1879–80) and Prolegomena to Ethics (1883).

Isaiah Berlin : Berlin developed a form of pluralist liberalism that is based upon the anti-perfectionist belief that conflicts of value are an intrinsic, irremovable element in human life. Political arrangements should therefore attempt to secure the greatest scope to allow people to pursue their differing ends. Berlin supported ‘negative’ liberty over ‘positive’ liberty, on the grounds that the latter has monistic and authoritarian implications.

John Rawls : Rawls was the most important liberal philosopher of the second half of the twentieth century. His theory of ‘justice as fairness’ not only condemns racial, sexual and religious discrimination, but also rejects many forms of social and economic inequality. Rawls’ egalitarian form of liberalism has had a profound effect upon political philosophy generally, and has made a significant contribution to both the modern liberal and social-democratic political traditions.

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