What are the main themes of classical liberalism? Free Essay Example

In order to ascertain the main themes of classical liberalism, one must look at the themes of liberalism as a whole, as they are integral to its make up as the classical form was the first to come about. Influenced by the enlightenment and formed between the change from feudalism to capitalism, it formed the basis of liberal thinking, focussing on the primacy of the individual ‘ liberalism strives to establish the conditions in which people and groups can pursue the good life as each defines it.

‘ (Heywood, 2007, p 26) Classical liberalism, whilst centring on the individual, has a rather negative outlook of them.

Classical liberals have an egoistical view of the individual, stretching to atomism. Believing that a ‘society’ doesn’t exist, only a collection of self-interested, self-sufficient individuals who are only looking out for themselves. In fact C.B Macpherson described the liberal view of the individual as ‘ the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them’ (Heywood, 2007, p28) This seem a very pessimistic view of classical liberals of the time, such as John Locke, but is still an accurate description.

‘The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his.’ (Locke. in Political ideologies, 2005, p61) This shows Locke’s view that the individual has a right to anything he puts his labour into regardless of any societies ruling ideas. Therefore the ideal for classical liberals is to create such a society in which the individual is capable of looking after him or herself based solely on freedom of choice without constraints.

This negative freedom, in which the individual is living without restrictions and left to their own devices, is a main theme in classical liberalism. It is negative, as the individual has no external constraints and therefore if they chose, however classical liberal J.S Mill does accept that minimal restrictions need to be applied in order for the individual to not do damage to other if he or she wishes. ‘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’ (Heywood, 2007 pp 30-31.) So even though classical liberals believed in near total freedom, they acknowledge that some restraint needs to be applied in order to preserve safety for others. Basically, classical liberals also wanted to apply reason to their negative thinking in order for individuals to not abuse their freedom and bring harm to others.

Reason and freedom are both closely tied to each other in terms of liberalism, it is also one of the foundations of liberal thinking as a whole as reason its very much at the basis of the Enlightenment project, which liberalism derives from. ‘The central theme of the Enlightenment was the desire to release humankind from its bondage to superstation and ignorance, and release an “age of reason”‘ (Heywood, 2007, p31) Here Heywood shows that reason is a key theme in the Enlightenment and also highlights the way liberalism is very anti-paternalism, against authority from the top in order to help those below, this goes against reason and freedom, as Heywood says ‘in short, the power of reason gives human beings the capacity to take charge of their own lives and fashion their own destinies.’ (Heywood, 2007, p 32) This gives the impression that reason and freedom are both important themes in liberal thinking overall, whether classical or modern.

Along with reason and freedom, justice plays an important role in classical liberalism, as it links in well with the previous two, with freedom being the basis. Justice is about equality, every human is born equal, ‘Liberals fiercely disapprove of any social privileges or advantages that are enjoyed by some but denied to others on the basis of factors such as gender, race, colour, creed religion or social background.’ (Heywood, 2007, p33.) This attitude undoubtedly has roots in the classical egoistical view of the individual, in that every individual is equal and only by applying their own labour and interests can they make something of themselves, irrespective of social background or structure. Therefore egoism is directly linked to meritocracy.

The liberal way of thinking, whether classical or modern, is heavily based on toleration, a willingness to accept others regardless of their race, interests or gender. Pluralism plays a great role in liberal tolerance and individualism as this way of thinking is the belief that power should be evenly distributed, these ides came about at the birth of classical liberalism with writers such as John Locke and John Stuart Mill. ‘ Locke argued that since the proper function of government is to protect life, liberty and property, it has no right to meddle in “the care of men’s souls.”‘ (Heywood, 2007, p 35.) Here Heywood describes Locke’s attitude towards toleration, showing that this belief played a large part in his own.

Another early theme of classical liberalism believed by Locke is that of natural rights ‘ men, being once born have a right to their preservation, and consequently meat and drink.’ (Locke. In Political Ideologies, 2005, p 60.) He firmly believed that government is primarily set up in order to preserve these rights. These beliefs were debated however by utilitarian’s such as Jeremy Bentham who fervently argued against natural rights.

Bentham believed that instead of natural rights, which he called ‘nonsense on stilts’ (Heywood, 2007, p 47), he said that individuals were motivated by pleasure and desire for happiness, and measured these in terms of utility. Utilitarian ideas gave classical liberalism a philosophy on how the individual acted, and amalgamates the ideas of the individual, atomism and egoism, which could be applied on a macro and micro scale. This included attitudes towards the economy, resulting in economic liberalism.

Economic liberalism was heavily based on liberal ideas of the individual and egoistic views of people such as Locke. Adam Smith, a prominent economic writer wrote about Mercantilism at the time and the way it encouraged the government to get involved with economic activity and international trade. He proposed the economy in terms of the market in that it ‘operates according to the wishes and decisions of free individuals’ (Heywood, 2007, p49.) Showing that the market relies on individualism and utilitarianism, that humans are more interested in material belongings, it is this that means the market can go unregulated. This is backed up by Adam Smith ‘ It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interests. In fact it was Smith who brought about the idea of the free market and a laissez-faire attitude, which the strongest western economies are based on, all due to the understanding of the individual.

Laissez-faire gained large support in the nineteenth century, with authors such as Samuel Smiles in his book Self-Help who used the phrase ‘Heaven help those who help themselves.’ Heywood quotes economist Richard Cohen saying he advised the working class to ‘Look not to Parliament, look only to yourselves’ (Heywood, 2007, p51.) This Social Darwinism was widespread in the nineteenth century, as economists widely believed in the free market and that the government shouldn’t get involved with microeconomics, this theme of classical liberalism owed greatly to the ides of the individual.

The main themes of classical liberalism were the ideas of the individual and egoism. This idea enabled liberals of the time to expand and develop other key themes such as justice, reason and later on economic liberalism. Without the idea of the primacy of the individual, classical liberalism would never of been as widely accepted, as economic theories of the time, such as the free market and laissez-faire all owed their development to the idea that the individual is self-sustaining and self-interested. Therefore the primary theme of classical liberalism was the individual, which then lead to other themes such as freedom, reason and justice, eventually forming the idea of the free market. These ideas were popular at the time and were even revived during the 1970s as Neoliberalism, which was new classical liberalism applied to more modern economics, proving that individualism can always be applied irrelevant of the time period.