LIBERALISM
The word Liberal did not come into use until
early in the nineteenth century and it was not
until around 1839 that the Whig Party in Great
Britain came to be referred to as “the Liberal
Party.” But liberalism as a political philosophy
finds classic expression in the writings of Hugo
Grotius and John Locke and it was a modified
version of this philosophy which was adopted as
the program of the English Liberal Party.
Liberalism defies succinct definition and rather
than attempting to express its tenets within the
framework of a brief formula we shall rather
seek to identify it by enumerating the attributes
which distinguish it…Liberalism is characterized
by the following beliefs:
1) A belief in the absolute value of human
personality and the spiritual equality of all
individuals.
2) A belief in the autonomy of individual
will.
3) A belief in the essential rationality and
goodness of man.
4) A belief in the existence of certain
inalienable rights peculiar to individuals
by virtue of their humanity. They are
commonly spoken of as the natural rights
to “life, liberty, and property.”
5) A belief that the state comes into existence
by mutual consent for the sole purpose of
preserving and protecting these rights.
6) A belief that the relationship between the
state and individuals is a contractual one
and that when the terms of the contract are
violated individuals have not only the right
but the responsibility to revolt and
establish a new government.
7) A belief that social control is best secured
by law rather than command. The law is
conceived as being at once the product of
individual will and the embodiment of
reason. The law alone can command and
restrain the individual and “government
under the law” is the liberal ideal.
8) A belief that “the government that governs
least governs best.” The government is
conceived as having primarily negative
functions, the protection of the individual
in his rights and freedom in order that he
may be free to follow “dictates of
conscience,” and the laws of nature.
9) A belief in individual freedom in all
spheres of life (political, economic, social,
intellectual and religious). Freedom is
conceived as freedom from all authority
that is capable of acting capriciously or
arbitrarily, freedom to act in accordance
with the dictates of “right reason.”i.e.,
with the dictates of natural law as it is
revealed to men through natural reason.
10) A belief in the existence of a
transcendental order of truth which is
accessible to man’s natural reason and
capable of evoking a moral response. It is
an order requiring both individual thought
and will for its realization, i.e., it is a
potential ordre requiring individual
thought and will for its translation into
actuality. Through his autonomous reason
and in the light of his conscience the
individual avoids anarchy by translating
the principles of this natural order into
practice. The choice between order and
anarchy revolves upon the individual and
more partciularly, upon individual
conscience. Thus conscience is the
keystone of the liberal doctrine.
Not all of these beliefs are peculiar to
liberalism and many of them have a long
heritage in the history of Western
civilization. The beliefs, for example, in
the absolute moral worth of the individual,
in the spiritual equality of individuals, and
in the essential rationality of a man are a
hertitage from the Middle Ages and have
their roots deep in Christian and Greek
thought. The ideal of individual freedom
under the impersonal rule of law is not a
peculiarly modern or liberal ideal. It has a
long heritage in Western political thought
extending at least as far back as the Stoics
in ancient Greece if not even further into
the past.
[John Hallowell, Main Currents in
Modern Political Thought, New York:
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1950]