 individualism

In the feudal period, there was little idea of individuals having their own interests or
possessing personal and unique identities

as feudalism was displaced by increasingly market-orientated societies, individuals

were confronted by a broader range of choices and social possibilities.

o Individualism is the belief in the supreme importance of the individual over

any social group or collective body
o Classical liberals subscribe to egoistical individualism,(C. B. Macpherson)
which places emphasis on selfinterestedness and self-reliance…..negative
freeedom

(C. B. Macpherson (1973) characterized early liberalism as 'possessive individualism:

in that it regarded the individual as 'the proprietor of his own person or capacities,
owing nothing to society for them’)

o Modern liberals, —a developmental form of individualism that prioritizes

human flourishing over the quest for interest satisfaction…we owe some debt
to society..(positive freedom)

so,…..

o individual is an end in itself , not to be used to meet other ends

(Immanuel Kant expressed belief in the dignity and equal worth of human beings in
his conception of individuals as 'ends in themselves' and not merely as means for the
achievement of the ends of others.)

o individual self sufficient

o takes responsibility of own’s development

…….also….a different liberal view or a early one has been equated ,with atomism;A
belief that society is made up of a collection of self-interested and largely self-
sufficient individuals, or atoms, rather than social groups

 rationalism..reason

The central theme of the Enlightenment was the desire to release humankind from its
bondage to superstition and ignorance, and unleash an 'age of reason'.

Enlightenment rationalism influenced liberalism in a number of ways…..it

strengthened its faith in both the individual and freedom
 Rationalism is the belief that the world has a rational structure, and that this can be
disclosed through the exercise of human reason and critical enquiry. As a
philosophical theory, rationalism is the belief that knowledge flows from reason rather
than experience, and thus contrasts with empiricism. As a general principle, however,
rationalism places a heavy emphasis on the capacity of human beings to understand
and explain their world, and to find solutions to problems. While rationalism does not
dictate the ends of human conduct, it certainly suggests how these ends should be
pursued. It is associated with an emphasis on principle and reason-governed
behaviour, as opposed to a reliance on custom or tradition, or on non-rational drives
and impulses.

 freedom—-
o In” On Liberty”, John Stuart Mill

argued that 'the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any
member of a civilized comn1unity, against his will, is to prevent harm to others'.

If liberty is unlimited it can become 'licence’ the right to abuse others.

He distinguished clearly between actions that are 'self-regarding', over ,which

individuals should exercise absolute freedom, and those that are 'other-regarding:
which can restrict the freedom of others or do them damage.

Mill's position is libertarian in that it accepts only the most minimal restrictions on
individual freedom, and then only in order to prevent 'harm to others'.

John Rawls expressed in the principle that everyone is entitled to the widest possible
liberty consistent with a like liberty for all……

 'Two Concepts of Liberty' Isaiah Berlin 'negative' theory of liberty and a 'positive' one
———
 Negative freedom— The absence of external restrictions or constraints on the
individual, allowing freedom of choice.

Classical liberals have believed in negative freedom, in that freedom consists in each person
being left alone, free from interference and able to act in whatever way they may choose.
This conception of freedon1 is 'negative' in that it is based on the absence of external
restrictions or constraints on the individual.

 positive freedom——-

Self-mastery or self realization; the achievement of autonomy or the development of human

capacities.

Modern liberals, on the other hand, have been attracted to a more 'positive' conception of
liberty - positive freedom - defined by Berlin as the ability to be one's own master, to be
autonomous. Self-mastery requires that the individual is able to develop skills and talents,
broaden his or her understanding, and gain fulfilment. This led to an emphasis on the capacity
of human beings to develop and ultimately achieve self-realization. These rival conception of
liberty have not merely stimulated academic debate ,..,,ithin liberalism, but have encouraged
liberals to hold very different vie,-vs about the desirable relationship between the individual
and the state

 justice

read rajiv bhargava chapter on justice

rule of law—

equality before law

legal equality——'equality before the law' and insists that all non-legal factors be
strictly irrelevant to the process of legal decision-making.

political equality—-'one person, one vote; one vote, one value; and underpins the
liberal com1nitment to democracy.

fundamental equality

equal moral value

(Morally, justice requires that unequal individuals are not treated equally. Modern
liberals, on the other hand, have taken social justice to imply a belief in some measure
of social equality. For example, in A Theory of Justice (1970), John Rawls argued
that economic inequality is only justifiable if it ,..,,orks to the benefit of the poorest in
society.)

The liberal theory of justice is based on a belief in equality of various kinds. In the
first place, individualism implies a commitment to foundational equality
 foundational equality implies a belief in formal equality or equal citizenship, the idea
that individuals should enjoy the same formal status within society, particularly in
terms of the distribution of rights and entitlements

liberals subscribe to a belief in equality of opportunity

Liberals believe social equality to be undesirable because people are not born the
same. ….. Liberals believe that it is right to reward merit

Equality, for a liberal, means that individuals should have an equal oppo1tunity to
develop their unequal skills and abilities. This leads to a belief in 'meritocracy

Classical liberals have endorsed strict meritocracy on both economic and moral
grounds.Modern liberals, on the other hand, have taken social justice to imply a belief
in some measure of social equality

 tolerance

This commitment to toleration, attributed to the French writer Voltaire (1694- 1778),
is memorably expressed in the declaration that, 'I detest what you say but will defend
to the death your right to say it.

it represents the goal of personal autonomy; on the other, it establishes a set of rules
about how human beings should behave towards one another

 welfare state
 constituionalism
 JS MILL harm principle - self and other regarding action

In the essay On Liberty , Mill put forward his famous principle that society may only
interfere with those actions of an individual which concern others and not with actions
which merely concern himself. The validity of this principle depends on there being a
distinction between self-regarding and other-regarding actions

There’s no issue with actions that are harmful to the individual themselves. If you
want to smoke, drink, or use drugs to excess, you should be free to do so. But if you
get behind the wheel of a car while under the influence, pass second-hand smoke onto
other people, or become violent on certain drugs, then there’s good reason for the
government to get involved.
 The harm principle is not designed to guide the actions of individuals but to restrict
the scope of criminal law and government restrictions of personal liberty.

The phrase “Your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins” captures
the general sentiment of the harm principle,

Self-regarding actions are actions that only harm yourself or, if it also harms others
(rational adults), it does so with their free, voluntary, and undeceived consent and
participation.

Other-regarding actions are those that harm others who are not rational, free,
undeceived, consenting adults.

criticism—-there may be disagreement about what counts as harm.

how to deal whwn own action harms others without intention to harm..mill doesnt talk
about that

 classical liberalisn
o Classical liberal ideas developed during the transition from feudalism to
capitalism, and reached their high point during the early industrialization of
the nineteenth century.
o human nature —self sufficient, self restricted , not oweing to society, egoist
o liberty= negative, opportunistic freedom, absence of restriction
o formal fundamental
o notion of state—- economy being autonomous. free market, invisible
hand..market forces regulate themselves ..no goct interventions needed…
economy decides its affairs...assumption that man is natural..laissez-faire.
o minimal state , non interventional state
o rights-based justice
o sometimes been called 'nineteenth-century liberalism’
o classical liberals subscribe to egoistical individualism
o classical liberals believe in negative freedom.
o property is regarded as an extension of a person
o
o the state is regarded at best as, in Thomas Paine's ,words, a 'necessary evil'(It
is necessary in that, at the very least, it lays down the conditions for orderly
existence; and it is evil in that it imposes a collective will on society, thereby
liiting the freedom and responsibilities of the individual.
o Classical liberals thus believe in a minimal state, which acts, using Locke's
metaphor, as a 'nightwatchman’
o classical liberals have a broadly positive view of civil society. Civil society is
not only deemed to be a 'realm of freedom' - by comparison to the state, which
is a 'realm of coercion' - but it is also seen to reflect the principle of balance or
equilibrium. This is most clearly expressed in the classical liberal belief in a
self-regulating market economy.
 o Classical liberalism nevertheless draws on a variety of doctrines and theories.
The most important of these are the following: • natural rights • utilitarianism •
economic liberalism • social Darwinism • neoliberalism .
 NEO liberalism

Neoliberalism (sometimes called 'neoclassical liberalism') is an updated version of

classical liberalism, particularly classical political economy. Its central theme is that
the economy works best when left alone by government, reflecting a belief in free
market economics and atomistic individualism. While unregulated market capitalism
delivers efficiency, growth and widespread prosperity, the 'dead hand' of the state saps
initiative and discourages

enterprise. In short, the neoliberal philosophy is: 'market: good; state: bad'. Key
neoliberal policies include privatization, spending cuts ( especially in social welfare),
tax cuts (particularly corporate and direct taxes) and deregulation. Neoliberalism is
often equated with a belief in market fundamentalism, - absolute faith in the capacity
of the market mechanism to solve all economic and social problems.

o Neoliberalism, sometimes called neoclassical liberalism, refers to the revival

of economic liberalism that has taken place since the 1970s.
o Neoliberalism was counter-revolutionary: its aim was to halt, and if possible
reverse, the trend towards 'big' government and state intervention that had
characterized much of the twentieth century
o Neoliberalism had its greatest initial impact in the n-vo states in which free-
market economic principles had been most firmly established in the nineteenth
century, the UK and the USA.
o Neoliberalism amounts to a form of market fundamentalism. The market is
seen to be morally and practically superior to government and any form of
political control.
o Free-market economists, such as Friedrich von Hayek (see p. 88) and the US
economist Milton Friedman (1912- 2006), attacked the economic role of
government.
o markets are naturally efficient ..market is fair..whatever market inequality is
there it’s due to people uniqueness and opportunitues are provided by the
market so people who want can come and get it

Neoliberalism is a policy model that encompasses both politics and economics. It

favors private enterprise and seeks to transfer the control of economic factors from the
government to the private sector.

Many neoliberal policies concern the efficient functioning of free market capitalism
and focus on limiting government spending, government regulation, and public
ownership.

Neoliberalism is often associated with the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, the prime
minister of the U.K. from 1979 to 1990 (and leader of the Conservative Party from
1975 to 1990) and Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the U.S. from 1981 to 1989.

More recently, neoliberalism has been associated with policies of austerity and
attempts to cut government spending on social programs.
  Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy that was developed by Jeremy Bentham and

James Mill. It equates 'good' with pleasure or happiness, and 'evil' with pain or
unhappiness. Individuals are therefore assumed to act so as to maximize pleasure and
minimize pain, these being calculated in terms of utility or use-value, usually seen as
satisfaction derived from

material consumption. The 'greatest happiness' principle can be used to evaluate laws,
institutions and even political systems. Act utilitarianism judges an act to be right if it
produces at least as much pleasure-over-pain as any other act. Rule utilitarianism
judges an act to be right if it conforms to a rule which, if generally followed, produces
good consequences.

Running notes of utilitarian

 modern liberalism
o described as 'twentieth-century liberalism’
o social inequality became more difficult to ignore as a growing industrial
working class was seen to be disadvantaged by low pay, unemployment and
degrading living and working conditions
o liberals found it progressively more difficult to maintain the belief that the
arrival of industrial capitalism had brought with it general prosperity and
liberty for all.
o The minimal state of classical theory was quite incapable of rectifying the
injustices and inequalities of civil society.
o advocate the development of an interventionist or enabling state.
o
o self centeredness to a limit
o positive freedom
o keyens….state should intervene………….The Great Depression of the 1930s,
…….the most dramatic demonstration of the failure of the free market
o invisible hand is dead
o demands welfare state…..If particular individuals or groups are disadvantaged
by their social circumstances,then the state possesses a social responsibility to
reduce or remove these disadvantages to create equal, or at least more equal,
life chances. Citizens have thus acquired a range of welfare or social rights,
such as the right to work, the right to education and the right to decent
housing. Welfare rights are positive rights because they can only be satisfied
by the positive actions of government, through the provision of state pensions,
benefits and, perhaps, publicly funded health and education services.

welfare state——A state that takes primary responsibility for the social welfare of its
citizens, discharged through a range of social-security, health, education and other
services.

o enabling state
o developmental individualism
 exponents

of classical lib——adam smith, john locke, jeremy bentham

of modern—- TH green, L T Hobhouse , Harold Laski, R H tawney

of neo—— Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Robert Nozick