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Liberalism Key Thinkers - Coggle Diagram
Liberalism Key Thinkers
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JOHN RAWLS (1921 - 2002)
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Rawls wrote the book 'A Theory of justice' and was the first person to use the word - social justice. He is also the father of progressive taxation.
Rawls believes in 'relative social equality' - He justifies it by saying that if people were unaware of their social position and circumstances, they would view an egalitarian society as ‘fairer’ than an inegalitarian one.
The veil of ignorance
This is a thought experiment by Rawls where he wants us to imagine we are randomly allocated a place in society. This allows us to think about how we would want wealth to be distributed if we look at the system from he outside.
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Other Thinkers:
Herbert Spencer - applied the concept of evolution to society, leading to his theory of 'Social Darwinism.' He strongly believed that 'Society should exist for the benefit of individuals, not individuals for the benefit of society.’
William Bevridge - The writer of the famous 'Breveridge Report' post ww2. He believed that the state should ensure it's focus post-war would be to eliminate the five giants, being: want, disease, idleness, ignorance and squalor
Isaiah Berlin - outlined the concepts of positive and negative freedoms (freedom to starve)...however he was concerned about the socialist potential of positive freedom as achieved through state intervention
Bentham - American revolutionaries coined the slogan : ‘no taxation without representation’ this made the case for democracy to protect the individual. Bentham claimed that universal suffrage is the only way of promoting the ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’.
John Milton - Milton certainly predates the liberal age and is often considered to be more to the right of liberalism, however his epic poem 'paradise lost' raises many controversial ideas about power and knowledge which then became liberalism. The poem shows the power of human knowledge and the importance of our consciousness.
De Tocqueville - Tocqueville takes issue with majority rule and claims that it takes away liberty from the minority ‘tyranny of the majority’.
Adam Smith - Smith believed in freedom within the market and the choice that the individual has when interacting with it. This means that decisions made within the market are both voluntary and contractual, made by self interested individuals for their own economic gain. This idea follows somewhat utilitarian views making the connection between material gain and happiness. He wrote the 'Wealth of Nations"
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John Keynes (thoughts on classic liberalism) - Keynes rejected its belief in a self-regulating market and said that the level of economic activity and therefore unemployment is determined by the total amount of demand. He suggests that governments could manage their economies by influencing the level of aggregate demand. He believed governments can borrow their way out of a crisis.
T.H. Green, argues that humans are inherently social and moral beings, capable of altruism. True freedom, for Green, involves realizing one’s potential within a community, not apart from it.
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JOHN LOCKE (1632 - 1704)
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Time context of Locke
He lived during the english civil war and witness the death of a monarch (Charles I) this was a period of great turmoil in British history.
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At the time there was a big question mark over where authority came from and whether we should accept the divine right of kings. Locke attacks this and claims the authority should come 'from below'.
Social contract theory
Locke had a more forgiving view of the state of nature than Hobbes did which meant that he felt that the social contract and the state is a 'necessary evil' which we need to protect our rights.
Hobbes was a conservative and therefore had a more negative view of human nature he claimed that the state of nature would be a 'war of all against all' he claimed that life would be: solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
Locke believed that in the state of nature we would have our key rights which are to life to liberty and to property. He also believed that we would be guided by morality.
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Theory of tolleration
Locke was living in a time where there was huge division between catholics and protestants but he did not think the solution to this as religious conformity.
Locke writes 'a letter concerning toleration' in 1669. This is him responding to arguments for religious uniformity across Europe, Hobbes was in favour a multisecular society.
Locke rejected the way some governments were attempting to achieve religious uniformity. He believed the only way this should be done is through reason and debate. He believed in variety within society.
Inspiring america
Locke inspired people like Thomas Jefferson to write a constitution in order to form a limited government.
The 2nd amendment (right to bare arms) is therefore important to Locke as he feels if the government oversteps its duty it has the right to a 'lawful rebellion'
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