Difference between revisions of "Liberalism"
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| − | '''Liberalism''' | + | '''Liberalism''' is a political and economic philosophy whose basis is on liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law.<ref>"liberalism In general, the belief that it is the aim of politics to preserve individual rights and to maximize freedom of choice." ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics'', Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, Third edition 2009, {{ISBN|978-0-19-920516-5}}.</ref><ref>"political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for conservatism and for tradition in general, tolerance, and [...] individualism". John Dunn. ''Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future'' (1993). Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-43755-4}}.</ref><ref>"With a nod to Robert Trivers' definition of altruistic behaviour" Trivers et al., 1971, page 35), Satoshi Kanazawa defines liberalism (as opposed to conservatism) as "the genuine concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated others and the willingness to contribute larger proportions of private resources for the welfare of such others" (Kanazawa et al., 2010, page 38).</ref> Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), [[capitalism]], [[democracy]], secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, and freedom of speech, the press, and of religion.<ref name="LInternational">{{cite web|url=http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=537|title=The Liberal Agenda for the 21st Century|access-date=20 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207012341/http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=537|archive-date=7 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="Nader Hashemi">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UkVIYjezrF0C&dq=liberalism+secularism|author=Nader Hashemi|title=Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies|publisher=Oxford University Press|quote=Liberal democracy requires a form of secularism to sustain itself|year=2009|isbn=978-0-19-971751-4}}</ref><ref name="Kathleen G. Donohue">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=htuTnexZAo8C&pg=PA1&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage|author=Kathleen G. Donohue|title=Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Idea of the Consumer (New Studies in American Intellectual and Cultural History)|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|quote=Three of them – freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion – have long been fundamental to liberalism.|isbn=978-0-8018-7426-0|date=19 December 2003|access-date=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="The Economist">{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KBzHAAAAIAAJ&q=liberalism+freedom+of+religion&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion|title=The Economist, Volume 341, Issues 7995–7997|journal=The Economist|quote=For all three share a belief in the liberal society as defined above: a society that provides constitutional government (rule by law, not by men) and freedom of religion, thought, expression and economic interaction; a society in which [...]|year=1996|access-date=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="Sheldon S. Wolin">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndAdGl8ScfcC&pg=PA525&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage|author=Sehldon S. Wolin|title=Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought|publisher=Princeton University Press|quote=The most frequently cited rights included freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, property, and procedural rights|isbn=978-0-691-11977-9|year=2004|access-date=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="Edwin Brown Firmage, Bernard G. Weiss, John Woodland Welch">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mQJgnEITPRIC&pg=PA366&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion#v=onepage|author1=Edwin Brown Firmage|author2=Bernard G. Weiss|author3=John Woodland Welch|title=Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives|publisher=Eisenbrauns|quote=There is no need to expound the foundations and principles of modern liberalism, which emphasises the values of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion |isbn=978-0-931464-39-3|year=1990 |access-date=31 December 2007}}</ref><ref name="John Joseph Lalor">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/cyclopaediapoli00lalogoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/cyclopaediapoli00lalogoog/page/n758 760]|first=John Joseph|last=Lalor|title=Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States|publisher=Nabu Press|quote=Democracy attaches itself to a form of government: liberalism, to liberty and guarantees of liberty. The two may agree; they are not contradictory, but they are neither identical, nor necessarily connected. In the moral order, liberalism is the liberty to think, recognised and practiced. This is primordial liberalism, as the liberty to think is itself the first and noblest of liberties. Man would not be free in any degree or in any sphere of action, if he were not a thinking being endowed with consciousness. The freedom of worship, the freedom of education, and the freedom of the press are derived the most directly from the freedom to think.|year=1883|access-date=31 December 2007}}</ref> |
| − | + | There are three main types of liberalism: | |
| − | * [[ | + | *[[Social liberalism]] |
| − | * [[ | + | *[[Conservative liberalism]] |
| − | * [[ | + | *[[Classical liberalism]] |
| − | + | ||
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| − | + | ==Relation to socialism== | |
| − | + | Liberals are not [[socialism|socialists]], and at most have somewhat of an inclination or sympathy towards such. Liberals tend to be unaware of legitimate critical theory but may side at times with socialism nonetheless either because they believe in forming a popular front or because they have a misconception about what socialism is (most commonly, this manifests as a liberal’s desire for what they believe to be socialism, when really they just focus on the achievement of welfare, not to change the relations to the means of production per se). Marxism rejects liberal reform of capitalism, considering reform to be a bandage that cannot reconcile the inherent contradictions to capitalism. Regardless, liberals on the path to class consciousness are generally considerable allies and have a place within the socialist movement, particularly at first when uniting against reactionary and other anti-socialist forces (wherein there is the establishment of a popular front). | |
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==References== | ==References== | ||
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Revision as of 17:26, 4 December 2020
Liberalism is a political and economic philosophy whose basis is on liberty, consent of the governed, and equality before the law.[1][2][3] Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support free markets, free trade, limited government, individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), capitalism, democracy, secularism, gender equality, racial equality, internationalism, and freedom of speech, the press, and of religion.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
There are three main types of liberalism:
Relation to socialism
Liberals are not socialists, and at most have somewhat of an inclination or sympathy towards such. Liberals tend to be unaware of legitimate critical theory but may side at times with socialism nonetheless either because they believe in forming a popular front or because they have a misconception about what socialism is (most commonly, this manifests as a liberal’s desire for what they believe to be socialism, when really they just focus on the achievement of welfare, not to change the relations to the means of production per se). Marxism rejects liberal reform of capitalism, considering reform to be a bandage that cannot reconcile the inherent contradictions to capitalism. Regardless, liberals on the path to class consciousness are generally considerable allies and have a place within the socialist movement, particularly at first when uniting against reactionary and other anti-socialist forces (wherein there is the establishment of a popular front).
References
- ↑ "liberalism In general, the belief that it is the aim of politics to preserve individual rights and to maximize freedom of choice." Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, Iain McLean and Alistair McMillan, Third edition 2009, ISBN 978-0-19-920516-5.
- ↑ "political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for conservatism and for tradition in general, tolerance, and [...] individualism". John Dunn. Western Political Theory in the Face of the Future (1993). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43755-4.
- ↑ "With a nod to Robert Trivers' definition of altruistic behaviour" Trivers et al., 1971, page 35), Satoshi Kanazawa defines liberalism (as opposed to conservatism) as "the genuine concern for the welfare of genetically unrelated others and the willingness to contribute larger proportions of private resources for the welfare of such others" (Kanazawa et al., 2010, page 38).
- ↑ The Liberal Agenda for the 21st Century.
- ↑ Nader Hashemi (2009). Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-971751-4. “Liberal democracy requires a form of secularism to sustain itself”
- ↑ Kathleen G. Donohue (19 December 2003). Freedom from Want: American Liberalism and the Idea of the Consumer (New Studies in American Intellectual and Cultural History). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-7426-0. “Three of them – freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion – have long been fundamental to liberalism.”
- ↑ "The Economist, Volume 341, Issues 7995–7997". The Economist. 1996. https://books.google.com/books?id=KBzHAAAAIAAJ&q=liberalism+freedom+of+religion&dq=liberalism+freedom+of+religion. Retrieved 31 December 2007. "For all three share a belief in the liberal society as defined above: a society that provides constitutional government (rule by law, not by men) and freedom of religion, thought, expression and economic interaction; a society in which [...]".
- ↑ Sehldon S. Wolin (2004). Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11977-9. “The most frequently cited rights included freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, property, and procedural rights”
- ↑ (1990) Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perspectives. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-0-931464-39-3. “There is no need to expound the foundations and principles of modern liberalism, which emphasises the values of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion”
- ↑ Lalor, John Joseph (1883). Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and of the Political History of the United States. Nabu Press. “Democracy attaches itself to a form of government: liberalism, to liberty and guarantees of liberty. The two may agree; they are not contradictory, but they are neither identical, nor necessarily connected. In the moral order, liberalism is the liberty to think, recognised and practiced. This is primordial liberalism, as the liberty to think is itself the first and noblest of liberties. Man would not be free in any degree or in any sphere of action, if he were not a thinking being endowed with consciousness. The freedom of worship, the freedom of education, and the freedom of the press are derived the most directly from the freedom to think.”
