Core Elements of Liberal World-View - Term Paper Example

Core elements of liberal world-view s Submitted by s: Introduction Liberalism is a worldwide perception that is basedon notions of liberty particularly emphasized in classical liberalism, and equality, which is predominantly linked to social liberalism. People who support liberalism support numerous perceptions depending on how they understand these principles, but typically, they embrace ideas like free and fair elections, civil freedoms, right to religion, private property and free trade among others. Liberalism initially developed into a distinctive party-political undertaking in the Enlightenment era, as it was common to theorists and economist. It went against the perceptions that were common during that period including hereditary privileges, state religions and absolute monarchies as well as Kings having divine rights. John Locke, a seventeenth century philosopher, is usually given credit for developing liberalism as a discrete philosophical tradition through his arguments that every man has natural right to life, liberty and property, and based on social contracts, the government is not supposed to violate these freedoms. Liberals were against old-fashioned traditionalism and intended to substitute totalitarianism in government with an archetypal egalitarianism together with the law. The revolutionaries associated with sections of the French Revolution along with other liberal revolutionaries during that time employed liberal philosophies in their justification of armed overthrow of what they perceived as dictatorial rule. In the nineteenth century, liberal forms of government were established in numerous countries all over Europe and America with the main ideological opponent of classical liberalism being conservatism. The individual and the natural rights John Locke is among the people who founded liberal political philosophy together with the philosophy of individual freedoms and limited governments which the philosophy that the American Constitution and the rest of the Western political systems are founded upon (Muthu, 2012, p. 84). Locke uses natural law to create a basis for his philosophy in his books; however, there are numerous varying interpretations of natural law including Ciceronian and Thomistic as well as Grotian. There have been arguments that the political philosophy developed by Locke is not founded on natural law, but on normal rights like the philosophy associated with Thomas Hobbes, and this has created the biggest controversy in the interpretation developed by Locke. Locke describes a state of nature were people have freedom, equality and independence while championing the social contracts and state by consent. Locke continues to state that governments must have respect for the rights of people. Consequently, his approach to limited government became an inspiration for the American founding fathers where in their declaration of independence, they quote natural rights as well as natural laws. Therefore, natural law and rights can be brought together, however, if they are combined, one must be superior to the other. Based on Locke’s argument, people in their natural state have freedom and are equal with a liberty to do whatever they want within the boundaries of the natural laws. This is the limitation that distinguished Locke’s perception from Hobbes’ as the later argues that freedom, together with equality, and priority of the rights of people, means that people in their natural state are supposed to pursue their survival and interests without any form of restriction. They are not obligated to respect the rights of others and this is the main reason why the natural state was a war-state. According to Locke, however, individuals are obligated to respect the rights of other people even in their natural states with the origin of this duty being natural law (Beitz, 2011, p. 55). The economic liberalism This form of liberalism is considered as the economic aspect of classical liberalism and is an economic philosophy, which supports and promotes unrestrictive economics and private property in methods used to produce goods and services. People who support this form of liberalism believe in the inseparability of political and social freedom while using philosophical arguments that promote liberty in the justification of economic liberalism and the free markets. Regardless of the fact that economic liberalism can support government regulation, it also disposed towards an opposition of government intervention in the free markets, which usually hinder free trading and healthy competition. Economic liberalism differs from the social model, mercantilism, socialism and social markets among other ideologies. The main ideas that underscore economic liberalism were created during Enlightenment era and were considered to further advanced and articulated by Adam Smith. These theories supported minimal interference by the government in the market economy even though they do not particular bar the state from providing a number of basic public commodities. The theories started in the eighteenth century with the claim that if each individual were left to his or her own economic device rather than being controlled by the state, it would lead to a harmonious and equal society characterized by increasing prosperity. Consequently, this supported the drive towards a capitalist economy in the late eighteenth century as well as the ensuing end of the mercantilist system. Even though economic liberalism is in favour of the markets, which are unrestricted by the government, it still argues that the state has a genuine role in the provision of public commodities. For example, Smith was of the opinion that the government should play a part in the provision of infrastructures and schools among other commodities that may be effectively executed by private bodies. Nonetheless, he preferred he suggested that these commodities be paid proportionately to their use while at the same time advocating for retaliatory tariffs that would create free trade as well as copyrights and patents that would inspire innovation. In the beginning, economic liberalism had to deal with proponents of feudal privileges for the wealthier members of society, aristocratic traditions and the right accorded to kings to run national economies the way the thought right Political liberalism This form of liberalism can be derived from the Theory of Justice developed by John Rawls’s in 1971 whereby he tries to demonstrate that the his theory of justice is not a detailed formation of the good, rather, it is well-suited with a liberal formation of the role played by justice (Kukathas, 2003, p. 110). In this context, the role played by justice involves the government being neutral in terms of competing formations of the good. Rawls attempts to demonstrate that his two ideologies of justice when properly appreciated create a theory of the right that can be underscored by all practical people even when the conditions are characterized by reasonable pluralism. Rawls shows this through a mechanism referred to as overlapping consensus where he also develops his ideologies of public reason. During the evolution of his work, Rawls continued to insist that liberalism was not a detailed doctrine that is comprised of an overall theory of value, a moral theory, an epistemology or a debatable metaphysics of the individual as well as the society. The modern societies are comprised of reasonable pluralism that has already been affected by these kinds of doctrines. If liberalism is to be employed as the foundation of public reasoning in the diverse western societies, it should be limited to a core combination of political ideologies that can be a matter of consensus among the practical populace. Rawls’s idea of political formation as far as liberalism is concerned appears to be more rigid compared to the traditional liberal political theories which are mainly restricted to constitutional ideologies that uphold basic civil freedoms as well as the democratic process. Conclusion Since liberalism touches on numerous issues including the nature of liberty, placement of property as well as democracy in just societies, inclusiveness and the reach of liberal ideologies, it may become difficult to understand if liberalism should be talked about. However, it is not an insignificant or inconsequential thing that all the mentioned theories are at liberty to be the basis for political value. The deep-seated constitutionalists emphasize the dominant worth of equality while the communitarians are of the opinion that the stresses of belonging are superior to liberty. On the other hand, the conservatives argue that being devoted to freedom destabilizes traditional values and qualities, and in the process social order itself. However putting these arguments aside, liberals come together in the rejection of these formations of political rights. Bibliography Beitz, C. 2011, The idea of human rights, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Kukathas, C. 2003, John Rawls, Routledge, London. Muthu, S. 2012, Empire and modern political thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Read More