Was Locke a Liberal?
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The British Empiricism Locke, Berkeley and Hume
The British Empiricism Locke, Berkeley and Hume copyleft: nicolazuin.2018 | nowxhere.wordpress.com 1 The problem of knowledge • Please, look out of the window (or into the box, or just in front of you…) and answer the following questions: ‣ What do you see? ‣ Are you sure that what you see is what truly exists out there? ‣ What do you know about it? ‣ How do you know it? ‣ What make you sure of it? • Here you are: this is the problem of knowledge! • Now try to formalise it in a single question or definition. copyleft:nicolazuin.2018 | nowxhere.wordpress.com 1 A long way behind In a certain way, we could say that the problem of knowledge is the problem of philosophy itself, since its birth. • Think for example on this quotations: Parmenides: «the same thing is for thinking as is for being” Eraclitus: «The things of which there is sight, hearing, experience, I prefer». (But he also says: «Poor witnesses for men are their eyes and ears if they have barbarian souls» Gorgia: «Nothing exists; Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and Even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others. Even if it can be communicated, it cannot be understood». • Or try to imagine the discussion between Plato and Aristotle in the famous Raffaello’s School of Athens. • Now try to build a mind-map of all the different answers to the problem of knowledge given by the philosophers you already know copyleft:nicolazuin.2018 | nowxhere.wordpress.com 2 The terrible heritage of Descartes: The modern problem of knowledge originates from the conclusions of Descartes’s research, which was inspired by the successful advancement of geometry and natural sciences and was aimed to find a certain knowledge for philosophy. -
A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly
Southern Illinois University Carbondale OpenSIUC Honors Theses University Honors Program 5-2002 The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly Follow this and additional works at: http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/uhp_theses Recommended Citation Daly, Chris, "The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill" (2002). Honors Theses. Paper 131. This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Honors Program at OpenSIUC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenSIUC. For more information, please contact [email protected]. r The Boundaries of Liberalism in a Global Era: A Critique of John Stuart Mill Chris Daly May 8, 2002 r ABSTRACT The following study exanunes three works of John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, Utilitarianism, and Three Essays on Religion, and their subsequent effects on liberalism. Comparing the notion on individual freedom espoused in On Liberty to the notion of the social welfare in Utilitarianism, this analysis posits that it is impossible for a political philosophy to have two ultimate ends. Thus, Mill's liberalism is inherently flawed. As this philosophy was the foundation of Mill's progressive vision for humanity that he discusses in his Three Essays on Religion, this vision becomes paradoxical as well. Contending that the neo-liberalist global economic order is the contemporary parallel for Mill's religion of humanity, this work further demonstrates how these philosophical flaws have spread to infect the core of globalization in the 21 st century as well as their implications for future international relations. -
The Restless Liberalism of Alexis De Tocqueville
FILOZOFIA ___________________________________________________________________________Roč. 72, 2017, č. 9 THE RESTLESS LIBERALISM OF ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE JAKUB TLOLKA, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK TLOLKA, J.: The Restless Liberalism of Alexis de Tocqueville FILOZOFIA, 72, No. 9, 2017, pp. 736-747 This essay attempts to contextualise the purported novelty of Alexis de Tocqueville’s particular brand of liberalism. It regards the author not as an heir or precursor to any given political tradition, but rather as a compelled syncretist whose primary philosophical concern was the moral significance of the democratic age. It suggests that Tocqueville devised his ‘new political science’ with a keen view to the existential implications of modernity. In order to support that suggestion, the essay explores the genealogy of Tocqueville’s moral and political thought and draws a relation between his analysis of democracy and his personal experience of modernity. Keywords: A. de Tocqueville – Modernity – Liberalism – Inquiétude – Religion Introduction. Relatively few authors in the history of political thought have produced an intellectual legacy of such overarching resonance as Alexis de Tocqueville. Even fewer, perhaps, have so persistently eluded ordinary analytical and exegetical frameworks, presenting to each astute observer a face so nuanced as to preclude serious interpretive consensus. As writes Lakoff (Lakoff 1998), ‘disagreement over textual interpretation in the study of political thought is not uncommon’. However, ‘it usually arises around those who left writings of a patently divergent character’ (p. 437). When we thus consider the ‘extraordinarily coherent and consistent nature’ of Alexis de Tocqueville’s political philosophy, it appears somewhat odd that the academic consensus surrounding that author relates almost exclusively to the grandeur of his intellectual achievement (Lukacs 1959, 6). -
Aristotle & Locke: Ancients and Moderns on Economic Theory & The
Xavier University Exhibit Honors Bachelor of Arts Undergraduate 2015-4 Aristotle & Locke: Ancients and Moderns on Economic Theory & the Best Regime Andrew John Del Bene Xavier University - Cincinnati Follow this and additional works at: http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Ancient Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Del Bene, Andrew John, "Aristotle & Locke: Ancients and Moderns on Economic Theory & the Best Regime" (2015). Honors Bachelor of Arts. Paper 9. http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/hab/9 This Capstone/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate at Exhibit. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Bachelor of Arts by an authorized administrator of Exhibit. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Aristotle & Locke: Ancients and Moderns on Economic Theory & the Best Regime Andrew John Del Bene Honors Bachelor of Arts – Senior Thesis Project Director: Dr. Timothy Quinn Readers: Dr. Amit Sen & Dr. E. Paul Colella Course Director: Dr. Shannon Hogue I respectfully submit this thesis project as partial fulfillment for the Honors Bachelor of Arts Degree. I dedicate this project, and my last four years as an HAB at Xavier University, to my grandfather, John Francis Del Bene, who taught me that in life, you get out what you put in. Del Bene 1 Table of Contents Introduction — Philosophy and Economics, Ancients and Moderns 2 Chapter One — Aristotle: Politics 5 Community: the Household and the Πόλις 9 State: Economics and Education 16 Analytic Synthesis: Aristotle 26 Chapter Two — John Locke: The Two Treatises of Government 27 Community: the State of Nature and Civil Society 30 State: Economics and Education 40 Analytic Synthesis: Locke 48 Chapter Three — Aristotle v. -
The Contradiction of Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism
The contradiction of classical liberalism and libertarianism blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/02/01/the-contradiction-of-classical-liberalism-and-libertarianism/ 2/1/2017 A standard assumption in policy analyses and political debates is that classical liberal or libertarian views represent a radical alternative to a progressive or egalitarian agenda. In the political arena, classical liberalism and libertarianism often inform the policy agenda of centre-right and far- right parties. They underpin laissez-faire policies and reject any redistributive action, including welfare state provisions and progressive taxation. This is motivated by a fundamental belief in the value of personal autonomy and protection from (unjustified) external interference, including from the state. It is difficult to overestimate the philosophical and political relevance of classical liberalism and libertarianism. President Trump’s proposal to repeal the “Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)”, for example, is clearly inspired by a libertarian philosophical outlook whereby “No person should be required to buy insurance unless he or she wants to” (Healthcare Reform to Make America Great Again ). More generally, in the last four decades the political consensus, and the spectrum of policy proposals and outcomes, has significantly moved in a less interventionist, more laissez faire direction. The centrality of classical liberal and libertarian views has been such that the historical period after the end of the 1970s – following the election of Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the US – has come to be known as the “Neoliberal era”. Yet the very coherence of the classical liberal and libertarian view of society, and its consistency with the fundamental tenets of modern democracies, have been questioned. -
Classical Liberalism and the Problem of Technological Change
Classical Liberalism and the Problem of Technological Change Justin “Gus” Hurwitz & Geoffrey A. Manne ICLE Innovation & the New Economy Research Program White Paper 2018-1 ICLE | 2117 NE Oregon St. Ste 501 | Portland, OR 97232 | 503.770.0652 [email protected] | @laweconcenter | www.laweconcenter.org 2 13 Classical Liberalism and the Problem of Technological Change Justin (Gus) Hurwitz and Geoffrey A. Manne Introduction The relationship between classical liberalism and technology is surprisingly fraught. The common understanding is that technological advance is complementary to the principles of classical liberalism – especially in the case of contemporary, information-age technology.1 This is most clearly on display in Silicon Valley, with its oft-professed libertarian (classical liberalism’s kissing cousin) affinities. The analytical predicate for this complementarity is that classical liberalism values liberty-enhancing private ordering, and technological advance both is generally facially liberty-enhancing and facilitates private ordering. 1 This chapter focuses on “contemporary technology.” That is, generally, those technologies associated with the information revolution of the past generation: computers, the Internet, and related information communications and processing technologies. A treatment of the relationship between classical liberalism and a more generalized concept of technology is beyond the scope of this chapter. It is, however, the authors’ view that the discussion offered here is relevant to such a broader conceptualization. 3 This analysis, however, is incomplete. Classical liberalism recognizes that certain rules are necessary in a well-functioning polity.2 The classical liberal, for instance, recognizes the centrality of enforceable property rights, and the concomitant ability to seek recourse from a third party (the state) when those rights are compromised. -
Locke, Kant, and Synthetic a Priori Cognition
Brian A. Chance Locke, Kant, and Synthetic APriori Cognition Abstract: This paper attempts to shed light on threerelated issues that bear di- rectlyonour understandingofLockeand Kant.The first is whether Kant believes Lockemerelyanticipates his distinction between analytic and synthetic judg- ments or also believes Lockeanticipateshis notion of synthetic apriori cogni- tion. The second is what we as readers of Kant and Lockeshould think about Kant’sview whatever it turnsout to be, and the third is the nature of Kant’sjus- tification for the comparison he drawsbetween his philosophyand Locke’s. I argue(1) that Kant believes Lockeanticipates both the analytic-synthetic distinc- tion and Kant’snotion of synthetic apriori cognition, (2)thatthe best justifica- tion for Kant’sclaim drawsonLocke’sdistinction between trifling and instruc- tive knowledge,(3) that the arguments against this claim developed by Carson, Allison, and Newman fail to undermine it,and (4) that Kant’sown jus- tification for his claim is quite different from what manycommentators have thoughtitwas (or should have been). Introduction Kant’srelationship to his empiricist predecessors is complex, and this complex- ity is perhaps no more evident than in the caseofLocke, whose philosophyin- fluenced not onlythe likes of Berkeley,Hume, and Reid but alsoageneration of Kant’sGermanpredecessors.¹ The “famous Locke” is the first philosopher Kant mentionsinthe Critique of Pure Reason (CPR), but he is also critical of Locke’s “physiology of the human understanding” and contrasts his transcendental de- Citations from the Critique of Pure Reason use the standardA/B formattorefer to the pagesof the first (A) and second (B) editions. Citations from Kant’sother worksuse the volume number and pagination of KantsgesammelteSchriften,edited by the Royal Prussian(laterGerman, then Berlin-Brandenburg) Academy of the Sciences. -
In Praise of Liberalism: an Assessment of Liberal Political Thought from the 17Th Century to Today
Review of Contemporary Philosophy Vol. 14, 2015, pp. 11–36, ISSN 1841-5261 IN PRAISE OF LIBERALISM: AN ASSESSMENT OF LIBERAL POLITICAL THOUGHT FROM THE 17TH CENTURY TO TODAY MICHAEL B. FRIEDMAN [email protected] School of Social Work, Columbia University ABSTRACT. The author of this essay maintains that liberalism has been the primary source of progressive change in the United States since its earliest history. To support his claim, he traces the philosophical and political history of liberalism in England and the United States. The specific forms of liberalism have varied in different periods of history; but, he maintains, there is an underlying spirit of liberalism that has persisted throughout the past 350 years and can be the source of dynamic progressive social change in the 21st century. Throughout history, he maintains, liberalism has been committed to social progress and has sought to improve the lives of populations that are economically and politically disadvantaged. This underlying spirit, the author argues, can be the source for an energized liberal agenda for the 21st century. Keywords: liberalism; political philosophy; political history 1. Introduction Conservative – and even centrist – opponents of liberalism reject it because they identify it with cumbersome government; reckless spending; high tax- ation; naiveté about economics, crime, and world power; and lack of moral values. What a mistake! In fact, liberalism has been the source of social and political progress in the Western world since the 17th century. The idea that rights set a limit on the legitimate power of government is a liberal idea. The idea that govern- ment must respect the liberty of individuals is a liberal idea. -
Philosophy.Pdf
Philosophy 1 PHIL:1401 Matters of Life and Death 3 s.h. Contemporary ethical controversies with life and death Philosophy implications; topics may include famine, brain death, animal ethics, abortion, torture, terrorism, capital punishment. GE: Chair Values and Culture. • David Cunning PHIL:1636 Principles of Reasoning: Argument and Undergraduate major: philosophy (B.A.) Debate 3 s.h. Undergraduate minor: philosophy Critical thinking and its application to arguments and debates. Graduate degrees: M.A. in philosophy; Ph.D. in philosophy GE: Quantitative or Formal Reasoning. Faculty: https://clas.uiowa.edu/philosophy/people/faculty PHIL:1861 Introduction to Philosophy 3 s.h. Website: https://clas.uiowa.edu/philosophy/ Varied topics; may include personal identity, existence of The Department of Philosophy offers programs of study for God, philosophical skepticism, nature of mind and reality, undergraduate and graduate students. A major in philosophy time travel, and the good life; readings, films. GE: Values and develops abilities useful for careers in many fields and for any Culture. situation requiring clear, systematic thinking. PHIL:1902 Philosophy Lab: The Meaning of Life 1 s.h. Further exploration of PHIL:1033 course material with the The department also administers the interdisciplinary professor in a smaller group. undergraduate major in ethics and public policy, which it offers jointly with the Department of Economics and the PHIL:1904 Philosophy Lab: Liberty and the Pursuit of Department of Sociology and Criminology; see Ethics and Happiness 1 s.h. Public Policy in the Catalog. Further exploration of PHIL:1034 course material with the professor in a smaller group. Programs PHIL:1950 Philosophy Club 1-3 s.h. -
The Principles of Embedded Liberalism: Social Legitimacy and Global Capitalism Rawi Abdelal and John G
chapter 7 The Principles of Embedded Liberalism: Social Legitimacy and Global Capitalism Rawi Abdelal and John G. Ruggie In this essay we revisit the principles of “embedded liberalism” and argue for their relevance to the contemporary global economy. The most essential principle is the need for markets to enjoy social legitimacy, because their politi- cal sustainability ultimately depends on it. From this principle we analyze three current sets of practices and institutions in which ongoing crises of legitimacy demonstrate the need for a renewal of embedded liberalism and a revitalization of global governance. They are: the activities of transnational corporations, particularly with regard to core standards in labor and human rights; the orga- nization of the international financial architecture; and the formal rules and informal norms of international organizations. Learning the Lessons of Embedded Liberalism The post-1945 world economy embodied a social bargain. In the aftermath of the political and economic chaos of 1920s, the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the Second World War—all of which together shattered the world order within the span of a single generation—policymakers sought to reorganize and rebuild the world economy by restoring open markets, promising to mitigate their adverse social consequences and thereby preempting societal demands, from both left and right, to replace markets altogether. The failure to strike such a compromise earlier had undermined international cooperation in trade and macroeconomic policy during the 1920s and 1930s, just as it had caused the collapse of the first era of globalization, circa 1870 to 1914. Influential scholars and policymakers began to make sense of how that first era of globalization had lost its way. -
Individuality in John Locke and John Stuart Mill: a Response to Michael J
Individuality in John Locke and John Stuart Mill: A Response to Michael J. Sandel by Cara Camcastle BA. Hon. Econ., University of British Columbia, 1995 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Political Science We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA August 1998 © Cara Camcastle, 1998 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) Abstract This thesis examines from a philosophical and theoretical standpoint, the validity of the communitarian claim that liberalism promotes an abstract, asocial, and atomistic conception of the self. To better understand the inner logic of Lockean and Millian arguments, I analyse 'individuality' the concept at the centre of the dispute between liberals and communitarians. The thesis illustrates the essentially contested nature of this concept, and the complexity and diversity of the liberal tradition which has been generally overlooked by communitarian critics. Locke's conception of individuality is morphological because it emphasises how an individual assisted by the right kind of education constructs his individuality through deliberation and self-control. -
Leibniz: the Last Great Christian Platonist
chapter 3 Leibniz: The Last Great Christian Platonist Jack Davidson Many of the Platonic doctrines are … most beautiful.1 ∵ Leibniz (1646–1716) was the last great philosopher in the rich tradition of Christian Platonism that began before Augustine (354–430) and ran through Pseudo-Dionysius (early sixth century), John Scottus Eriugena (c. 800– c. 877), Anselm (1033–1109), Nicholas of Cusa (1401–64) and Marsilio Ficino’s (1433–1499) Florentine Academy. With the advent of figures like John Locke (1632–1704), David Hume (1711–1776), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) and Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), philosophy became both mundane and largely secular. This chapter focuses on the most influential of the 17th-century German Platonists, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. As anyone who knows of the history of Platonism from Plato onward realizes, classifying Leibniz as a Platonist is to place him in the company of philosophers who hold (sometimes wildly) different views, so some specifi- cation is necessary. These days, “Platonism” is used by scholars of ancient philosophy to describe what they take to be actual doctrines in the Platonic canon, doctrines Plato developed or continued to hold in the dialogues after the early, Socratic dialogues, e.g., the theory of the Forms.2 In contemporary metaphysics, “Platonism” refers to the view that certain abstract truths, like those of mathematics and logic, exist independently of time and space and human thought. Frege, Gödel, and Russell were all Platonists in this sense, as 1 D ii 222/l 592. Leibniz citations in the text and notes are by abbreviation keyed to the bibli- ography.