Liberalism Notes PDF

**Liberalism Test Review:** **Chapter 1 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - Ancient Greek and Roman political philosophy focused on self-governance, virtue, and the prevention of tyranny. - **Nicolo Machiavelli:** Sought to dismantle the classical ideas of liberty towards individual...

**Liberalism Test Review:** **Chapter 1 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - Ancient Greek and Roman political philosophy focused on self-governance, virtue, and the prevention of tyranny. - **Nicolo Machiavelli:** Sought to dismantle the classical ideas of liberty towards individual liberty, laying the groundwork of Liberalism. - **Liberal Voluntarism:** Individual will and choice as central to human freedom through social relationships, identity, value, way of living, and who to follow. - **State of Nature:** The condition of humanity before the formation of political society or government. Used by thinkers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. - **Social Contract Theory:** Agreement between individuals and the State where consent forms the basis of legitimate authority. - **Thomas Hobbes:** **Hobbe's State of Nature** is that without a strong leader, life would be chaotic and violent. Therefore, people give up some freedom to the State for security and order. **Social Contract for Hobbes** is that to escape the violent state of nature, people form a social contract, surrendering their rights to maintain order and security. - **John Locke:** Legitimacy is when people agree with the laws of the government and consent to them so to prevent self-interested individuals from doing destructive things. "Liberty exists where the law is silent" **Locke's state of nature** viewed that individual had natural rights, saying that CONSENT is key to legitimate governance, influencing classical liberalism's focus on **limited government** and the protection of individual liberty. Therefore, human relationships like familial bonds, marriages, are all subjected to the logic of consent. **Social Contract**: Governments are formed to protect the natural rights of individuals. Individuals consent to give up some freedom in exchange for protection of their rights. - **Jean-Jacques Rousseau:** **State of Nature:** People were peaceful, but with property rights led to inequality creating corruption. **Social Contract:** Society's development as the source of inequality and aimed to restore freedom and inequality where people surrendered their individual will to the general will for the collective good. The idea is more **communal.** Liberty is part of a community where individuals act for the collective good: Eliminate hierarchies and economic inequalities. **REVISE ON LOCKE, HOBBES, AND ROUSSEAU:** - **STATE OF NATURE:** - Hobbes: Humans are naturally selfish and violent. - Locke: Humans are rational and capable of cooperation, but have natural rights. - Rousseau: Humans are naturally good, but society corrupts them. - **SOCIAL CONTRACT:** - Hobbes: Government is needed to prevent chaos and maintain order. - Locke: Government exists to protect natural rights (life, liberty, property) through consent. - Rousseau: Government should express the general will to ensure equality and freedom for all. - **LIBERTY**: - Hobbes: People give up freedom for security. - Locke: Freedom is the protection of natural rights under limited government. - Rousseau: True freedom comes from living according to the general will of the community, even if that means sacrificing individual desires for the collective good. - **Francis Bacon:** First-wave liberals-Man should employ science and economic systems to dominate nature for human benefit. - **War against Nature:** Liberalism's effort to overcome natural limitations such as finite resources and biological boundaries. - **Expansion of the State**: As more personal freedom arises; the State grows stronger to regulate behavior through laws: The state and the individual become two main points of power. **Chapter 2 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - **Classical Liberalism:** Focuses on the individual liberty through a limited government. The government focuses on protecting individual rights through consent, People have the freedom to pursue their own interests, property rights, and self-desires. - **Progressive Liberalism**: Focuses on addressing social inequalities and improving society though an active government intervention; Social Reforms, active government, regulation of markets. Classical Liberalism Progressive Liberalism -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Focus on Individual Freedom: Personal rights and freedoms are central. **Focus on Collective Welfare**: Society must address inequalities to ensure true freedom. Limited Government: The state should interfere as little as possible in personal and economic matters. **Active Government Role**: The government must intervene to protect social and economic equality. Free Markets: Emphasis on laissez-faire capitalism and economic freedom. **Regulation of Markets**: Economic regulation is necessary to prevent inequality and protect workers. Natural Rights: Rights are inherent, and the government's role is to protect them. **Rights through Social Policy**: Rights and freedoms are realized through social policies and government programs. Influential Thinkers: John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson. **Influential Thinkers**: John Dewey, Herbert Croly, Walter Rauschenbusch. - **Liberalism Paradox:** As more individual freedom grows, so does the expansion of state power to regulate and protect individual liberties. - **Individualism:** Individual autonomy as central to Liberalism. Resulting in a lost of communal and social ties as more individuals pursue their desires, the more the state intervenes to regulate interactions and secure rights. - **Statism:** As Liberalism progresses, the state grows and takes more roles to regulate the liberties and rights of the individuals, leading to Statism. - **COMMERCE as the Main Agent of Liberation:** State promotes more commerce for the "Free Market" for more opportunities and desires which led to **Liberal Imperialism.** This expansion of commerce led to the liberation of traditional ties and relationships and ruptured communal and societal ties. **Karl Polanyi**: Liberal transformation of economies required a violent disruption of cultural and social structures. **Enclosure Laws:** People moved away from fields and into the industry. **Free Market:** Classical Liberalism prioritized individual economic self-interest over local jobs, social welfare, and community well-being. Manufacturing became overseas for cheap labor where International Markets destroyed local industries. - **John Dewey:** Argued for a more active role of the State (progressive) for growth and collective responsibility. The state should support social cohesion to ensure economic equality and enhance individual capabilities but not at the cost of individualism. - **Herbert Croly:** "Jeffersonian ends through Hamiltonian means" (Progressive): Individual freedom and equality could best be achieved through a strong government intervention. - **Walter Rauschenbusch:** Democracy evolved from solely focusing on individual self-reliance to consider the collective well-being through social and ethical commitments. - **Progressive Liberalism CONT'D:** Aims to create a balance where individuals can express themselves while actively contributing to society. Involves transforming economic and political structures to be more inclusive and support all members of society. - **"Life of Julia":** government programs (Progressive) support individuals to achieve personal success. - **Nisbet and Tocqueville:** Argues that individualism now needs State intervention to truly flourish. As society becomes more individualistic, dependence on the State becomes a dependency for community and support. **Chapter 3 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - **Liberalism as Anti-culture:** Culture has lost its meaning; culture has shifted from religious observance to opportunities of consumption; Black Friday. Individuals are now disconnected from deep cultural, familia, and communal ties becoming consumers within a global market. - **Fungible:** Completely replaceable and infinite replacement of people; Immigration. - **Homogenous Market:** Global market blends everything into one culture, wiping local differences. - **Conquest of Nature:** Liberalism seeks to dominate nature through technology and science, reducing natural limits and moral constraints. Liberal ideologies treat nature and culture as obstacles, favoring industrial solutions. - **Liberal Timelessness:** Liberalism disconnects individuals from historical and cultural roots, focusing only on the present. Suggesting that old traditions shouldn't guide current decisions. - **Liberalism as Nowhere and Everywhere:** PLACELESSNESS: Liberalism promotes a detachment from a specific place or origin. - **Wendell Berry:** Says the importance of community is deeply tied to a place, tradition, and relationship. Liberalism has destroyed these local communities and cultures. - **Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:** Argues that liberalism only cares about rights and laws without moral considerations, failing to encourage self-restraint and promotes selfishness by pushing individuals to pursue their desires within legal boundaries. - **Alexis de Tocqueville:** Liberal democracy and how it fosters **presentism**, where individuals and society increasingly disconnects from historical continuity and only focuses on the present. - **Presentism:** A focus on the present moment, with little regard for past traditions or future consequences. - **Placelessness:** A state where people are disconnected from specific places or communities. - **Anticulture:** The replacement of real culture with a homogenized, market-driven version that lacks deep meaning or connection. - **Rise of Leviathan:** Breakdown of culture led to the State taking over, increasing the power of the government. - **Sexual Revolution:** Aimed to liberate individuals from traditional sexual norms and values which led to state intervention to regulate private life as individuals were freed from moral and cultural norms. Contributing to the "Paternalist State" - **Paternalist State:** The growing role of the government in regulating personal behavior and social life due to the absence of cultural norms. - **Parasitic Liberalism:** Liberalism replaces traditional cultures. Real cultures are local and specific with a time and place, but Liberal culture is a mass-consumed product that strips away meaning and historical context. - **Multiculturalism as Homogeneity:** Claims to celebrate diversity but often creates a homogenized global culture that erases authentic cultural differences. **Chapter 4 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - **Nicholas Carr:** Argues that the internet is affecting the way we think, learn and concentrate. We are better at decision-making but lose memory and concentration. - **Sherry Turkle:** Argues that Social Media doesn't create real communities replacing with weak, shallow connections. Real communities are built on shared responsibility and physical proximity. - **Neil Postman:** TECHNOPOLY: A society where technology dominates all areas of life and dictates our values, cultures, and human behavior, replacing traditional cultural and moral structures. - **Wendell Berry:** Says the importance of community is deeply tied to a place, tradition, and relationship. Liberalism has destroyed these local communities and cultures. Technology replaces traditions and cultures for the sake of utility and efficiency. Unlike Francis Bacon, he believes that we should return to local traditions, community-based living rather than seek to dominate nature through technology. - **TECHNOCRACY:** A system where scientists and technical experts make decisions instead of politicians to focus on technology and knowledge to solve problems and run society without cultural and moral considerations. - **Technological Determinism:** Technology shapes society and human behavior. - **Francis Fukuyama "End of History":** Liberal democracy as the final form of government. Biotechnology will change human nature itself, threatening Liberal democracy. - **James Madison's Federalist 10:** The first role of government is to protect individual liberty by encouraging self-interest. "New Science of Politics" rejects the classical ideal of government fostering virtue and common good, replaced with the government promoting personal liberty and private pursuits, paving way for a technological society driven by self-interest. - **Pluralism:** Idea that many different people and groups exist together to prevent any single person from having too much power. - **Stephen Marche:** Facebook and similar technologies don't cause loneliness, they amplify our long-standing desire for interdependence, creating the rise of Suburban living aided by technology (automobiles), moving people away from civic interactions. - **The Amish:** Adopts technology through what supports the community rather than for individual autonomy. - **Daniel Boorstin:** Technology grows on its own, leading to "involuntary commitments" to technology, we often have no real choice but to adopt new technologies as they now shape society. - **Thick Community:** A community with strong roots and connections. A **Thin Community** would be the reverse. **Chapter 5 Key concepts, word, and thinkers:** - **Liberalism and Education:** Traditionally, education taught us how to be civic individuals through historical texts and cultural traditions. Liberalism replaced it with the focus on individual autonomy and technical mastery (STEM). - **STEM vs Liberal Arts:** Historically, Liberal Arts aimed to teach self-control, responsibility through classical and religious teaching. Now, modern education shifted to the focus of STEM. - **Clark Kerr "Multiversity": University has become a place driven for economic and military interest, leaving behind the moral and civic aims of classical education.** - **Postmodernism:** Humanities shifted its focus with Liberalism's focus on autonomy through identity politics, social justice, ignoring communities defined by tradition. - **Martin Heidegger:** Believed that modern society with its focus on efficiency and control, leads to the Loss of Authenticity, we become instrumentalized. - **Micheal Foucault:** Influenced by Heidegger, examined how power operates through knowledge in the context of scientific and technical knowledge. Aligning with how modern education and TECHNOCRACY have shaped individuals into a technocratic society, undermining traditional notions of virtue and self-governance. - **Hermeneutics of Suspicion:** Must question everything, revealing the hidden motives or powers behind them to reveal what's really going on. Tear everything-doubting and criticizing, builds nothing-doesn't offer new solution or builds new ideas. - **Cult of Experts:** The growing reliance on listening to experts leading to a loss of moral judgement in political and social life. - **Alexandr Dugin:** Russian political theorist, rejects Western liberalism and a return for traditional values and local cultures. - **Wilson Carey McWilliams:** Criticizes how Liberalism focuses on race, gender, identity, rather than community and societal ties. - **Wendell Berry:** Says the importance of community is deeply tied to a place, tradition, and relationship. Liberalism has destroyed these local communities and cultures. Technology replaces traditions and cultures for the sake of utility and efficiency. Unlike Francis Bacon, he believes that we should return to local traditions, community-based living rather than seek to dominate nature through technology. Return for self-governance and an acknowledgement of human dependency on natural limits. The Economic Crisis was caused because of the belief that consumption was limitless.