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183-415: Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice , social services , a mixed economy , and the expansion of civil and political rights , as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited government and an overall more laissez-faire style of governance. While both are committed to personal freedoms, social liberalism places greater emphasis on

366-619: A code of law in ancient India is the Manusmṛti or Laws of Manu. Chinese political philosophy dates back to the Spring and Autumn period , specifically with Confucius in the 6th century BC. Chinese political philosophy was developed as a response to the social and political breakdown of the country characteristic of the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period . Confucius was

549-635: A Persian scholar and vizier of the Seljuq Empire who composed the Siyasatnama , or the "Book of Government" in English. In it, he details the role of the state in terms of political affairs (i.e. how to deal with political opponents without ruining the government's image), as well as its duty to protect the poor and reward the worthy. In his other work, he explains how the state should deal with other issues such as supplying jobs to immigrants like

732-451: A citizen of their town. Many consequentialist theories may seem primarily concerned with human beings and their relationships with other human beings. However, some philosophers argue that we should not limit our ethical consideration to the interests of human beings alone. Jeremy Bentham , who is regarded as the founder of utilitarianism , argues that animals can experience pleasure and pain, thus demanding that 'non-human animals' should be

915-498: A consequentialist moral theory. This form of utilitarianism holds that what matters is to aggregate happiness; the happiness of everyone, and not the happiness of any particular person. John Stuart Mill , in his exposition of hedonistic utilitarianism, proposed a hierarchy of pleasures, meaning that the pursuit of certain kinds of pleasure is more highly valued than the pursuit of other pleasures. However, some contemporary utilitarians, such as Peter Singer , are concerned with maximizing

1098-413: A critic of utilitarianism, argues that utilitarianism, in common with other forms of consequentialism, relies on the perspective of such an ideal observer . The particular characteristics of this ideal observer can vary from an omniscient observer, who would grasp all the consequences of any action, to an ideally informed observer, who knows as much as could reasonably be expected, but not necessarily all

1281-503: A deliberate action is no different from a deliberate decision not to act. This contrasts with the " acts and omissions doctrine ", which is upheld by some medical ethicists and some religions: it asserts there is a significant moral distinction between acts and deliberate non-actions which lead to the same outcome. This contrast is brought out in issues such as voluntary euthanasia . The normative status of an action depends on its consequences according to consequentialism. The consequences of

1464-427: A discipline had utility in two ways: the utility of political philosophy might be found either in the intrinsic ability of the best of past political thought to sharpen the wits of contemporary political thinkers, much as any difficult intellectual exercise sharpens the mind and deepens the imagination, or in the ability of political philosophy to serve as a thought-saving device by providing the political scientist with

1647-554: A distinction between the "Liberty of the Ancients" and the "Liberty of the Moderns". The Liberty of the Ancients was participatory republican liberty, which gave the citizens the right to directly influence politics through debates and votes in the public assembly. In order to support this degree of participation, citizenship was a burdensome moral obligation requiring a considerable investment of time and energy. Generally, this required

1830-511: A group of views which claim that the moral value of any act consists in its tendency to produce things of intrinsic value . Consequentialists hold in general that an act is right if and only if the act (or in some views, the rule under which it falls) will produce, will probably produce, or is intended to produce, a greater balance of good over evil than any available alternative. Different consequentialist theories differ in how they define moral goods , with chief candidates including pleasure ,

2013-422: A hierarchical, meritocratic government based on empathy, loyalty, and interpersonal relationships. Legalism advocated a highly authoritarian government. Mohism advocated a communal, decentralized government centered on frugality and asceticism . The Agrarians advocated a peasant utopian communalism and egalitarianism . Taoism advocated a proto- anarchism . Legalism was the dominant political philosophy of

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2196-475: A major part in political science , within which a strong focus has historically been placed on both the history of political thought and contemporary political theory (from normative political theory to various critical approaches ). In the Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (2009), the field is described as: "[...] an interdisciplinary endeavor whose center of gravity lies at the humanities end of

2379-627: A meaning different from the one proposed by Rüstow. Rüstow wanted an alternative to socialism and the classical liberal economics developed in the German Empire . In 1938, Rüstow met with various economic thinkers—including Ludwig Mises , Friedrich Hayek , and Wilhelm Röpke —to determine how and what could renew liberalism. Rüstow advocated a powerful state to enforce free markets and state intervention to correct market failures . However, Mises argued that monopolies and cartels operated because of state intervention and protectionism and claimed that

2562-571: A mix of nationalism and Protestant-Christian-value-inflected social liberalism to overcome class antagonisms by non-revolutionary means. Naumann called this a "proletarian-bourgeois integral liberalism". Although the party could not win any seats and soon dissolved, he remained influential in theoretical German left-liberalism. In the Weimar Republic , the German Democratic Party was founded and came into an inheritance of

2745-411: A morally justifiable way. Acting in a situation without first informing oneself of the circumstances of the situation can lead to even the most well-intended actions yielding miserable consequences. As a result, it could be argued that there is a moral imperative for agents to inform themselves as much as possible about a situation before judging the appropriate course of action. This imperative, of course,

2928-402: A more important force for change and reform. Some Victorian writers—including Charles Dickens , Thomas Carlyle and Matthew Arnold —became early influential critics of social injustice. John Stuart Mill contributed enormously to liberal thought by combining elements of classical liberalism with what eventually became known as the new liberalism. Mill developed this philosophy by liberalising

3111-399: A mutual agreement between rational citizens, producing rights and duties as well as establishing and defining roles and tasks of the state. Rawls put the equal liberty principle in the first place, providing every person with equal access to the same set of fundamental liberties , followed by the fair equality of opportunity and difference, thus allowing social and economic inequalities under

3294-411: A natural system based on nature in a particular given system. The theory of the divine right of kings became a passing fancy, exposed to the type of ridicule with which John Locke treated it. Unlike Machiavelli and Hobbes but like Aquinas, Locke would accept Aristotle's dictum that man seeks to be happy in a state of social harmony as a social animal. Unlike Aquinas's preponderant view on the salvation of

3477-487: A necessary consequence of the size of modern states, and also the inevitable result of having created a commercial society in which there are no slaves but almost everybody must earn a living through work. Instead, the voters would elect representatives, who would deliberate in Parliament on behalf of the people and would save citizens from the necessity of daily political involvement. Moreover, Constant believed that, in

3660-542: A package of several goods, all to be promoted equally. As the consequentialist approach contains an inherent assumption that the outcomes of a moral decision can be quantified in terms of "goodness" or "badness," or at least put in order of increasing preference , it is an especially suited moral theory for a probabilistic and decision theoretical approach. Consequentialism can also be contrasted with aretaic moral theories such as virtue ethics . Whereas consequentialist theories posit that consequences of action should be

3843-511: A reliance on what they believe to be a too centralized government to achieve its goals, critics have called this strain of liberalism a more authoritarian ideological position compared to the original schools of liberal thought, especially in the United States, where conservatives have called presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson authoritarians. The first notable implementation of social liberal policies occurred under

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4026-491: A rich source of concepts, models, insights, theories, and methods. In his 2001 book A Student's Guide to Political Philosophy , Harvey Mansfield contrasts political philosophy with political science . He argues that political science "apes" the natural sciences and is a rival to political philosophy, replacing normative words like "good", "just", and "noble" with words like "utility" or "preferences". According to Mansfield, political science rebelled from political philosophy in

4209-460: A serious object of moral concern. More recently, Peter Singer has argued that it is unreasonable that we do not give equal consideration to the interests of animals as to those of human beings when we choose the way we are to treat them. Such equal consideration does not necessarily imply identical treatment of humans and non-humans, any more than it necessarily implies identical treatment of all humans. One way to divide various consequentialisms

4392-471: A social liberal government . In modern political discourse, social liberalism is associated with progressivism , a left-liberalism contrasted to the right-leaning neoliberalism , and combines support for a mixed economy with cultural liberalism. Social liberalism may also refer to American progressive stances on sociocultural issues, such as reproductive rights and same-sex marriage , in contrast with American social conservatism . Cultural liberalism

4575-512: A sort of consequentialism that argues that virtuous activity ultimately produces the best consequences. The ultimate end is a concept in the moral philosophy of Max Weber , in which individuals act in a faithful, rather than rational, manner. We must be clear about the fact that all ethically oriented conduct may be guided by one of two fundamentally differing and irreconcilably opposed maxims: conduct can be oriented to an ethic of ultimate ends or to an ethic of responsibility . [...] There

4758-491: A sub-society of slaves to do much of the productive work, leaving the citizens free to deliberate on public affairs. Ancient Liberty was also limited to relatively small and homogenous societies, in which the people could be conveniently gathered together in one place to transact public affairs. The Liberty of the Moderns, in contrast, was based on the possession of civil liberties, the rule of law, and freedom from excessive state interference. Direct participation would be limited:

4941-432: A terrible stomach ache and would be the worst alternative. Not eating any cookies at all, on the other hand, would be the second-best alternative. Now the question is: should Gifre eat the first cookie or not? Actualists are only concerned with the actual consequences. According to them, Gifre should not eat any cookies at all since it is better than the alternative leading to a stomach ache. Possibilists, however, contend that

5124-582: A third way between Manchester Liberalism and socialist revolution in the 1871-founded German Empire . However, the German left-liberal movement fragmented into wings and new parties over the 19th century. The main objectives of the left-liberal parties—the German Progress Party and its successors—were free speech, freedom of assembly, representative government, secret and equal but obligation-tied suffrage, and protection of private property. At

5307-510: A virtue such as benevolence. However, consequentialism and virtue ethics need not be entirely antagonistic. Iain King has developed an approach that reconciles the two schools. Other consequentialists consider effects on the character of people involved in an action when assessing consequence. Similarly, a consequentialist theory may aim at the maximization of a particular virtue or set of virtues. Finally, following Foot's lead, one might adopt

5490-468: A woman was married, she entered legally binding coverture with her husband; once she married her legal existence as an individual was suspended under "marital unity". While it is easy to presume that a woman would not marry under these circumstances, being unmarried had social consequences. A woman could only advance in social stature and wealth if she had a rich husband to do the groundwork. Mill uses his Utilitarian ethics to assess how gender equality would be

5673-440: Is a class of normative , teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgement about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, from a consequentialist standpoint, a morally right act (including omission from acting) is one that will produce a good outcome. Consequentialism, along with eudaimonism , falls under the broader category of teleological ethics ,

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5856-468: Is also the founding father of the German cooperative movement and the organiser of the world's first credit unions . Some liberal economists, such as Lujo Brentano or Gerhart von Schulze-Gävernitz , established the Verein für Socialpolitik (German Economic Association) in 1873 to promote social reform based on the historical school of economics and therefore rejecting classical economics , proposing

6039-537: Is an ethical theory that evaluates the moral worth of an action based on how much it contributes to the welfare of a state. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy , Mohist consequentialism, dating back to the 5th century BCE, is the "world's earliest form of consequentialism, a remarkably sophisticated version based on a plurality of intrinsic goods taken as constitutive of human welfare." Unlike utilitarianism, which views utility as

6222-515: Is an abysmal contrast between conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of ultimate ends — that is in religious terms, "the Christian does rightly and leaves the results with the Lord" — and conduct that follows the maxim of an ethic of responsibility, in which case one has to give an account of the foreseeable results of one's action. G. E. M. Anscombe objects to the consequentialism of Sidgwick on

6405-411: Is based on "promoting the benefit of all under heaven and eliminating harm to all under heaven." In contrast to Jeremy Bentham 's views, state consequentialism is not utilitarian because it is not hedonistic or individualistic . The importance of outcomes that are good for the community outweigh the importance of individual pleasure and pain. The term state consequentialism has also been applied to

6588-423: Is by the types of consequences that are taken to matter most, that is, which consequences count as good states of affairs. According to utilitarianism , a good action is one that results in an increase in pleasure , and the best action is one that results in the most pleasure for the greatest number. Closely related is eudaimonic consequentialism, according to which a full, flourishing life, which may or may not be

6771-472: Is commonly considered the father of modern anarchism , specifically mutualism . Peter Kropotkin is another classic anarchist thinker, who was the most influential theorist of anarcho-communism . Mikhail Bakunin 's specific version of anarchism is called collectivist anarchism . Max Stirner was the main representative of the anarchist current known as individualist anarchism and the founder of ethical egoism which endorses anarchy. Henry David Thoreau

6954-707: Is derived from consequential thinking: a better-informed agent is able to bring about better consequences. Moral action always has consequences for certain people or things. Varieties of consequentialism can be differentiated by the beneficiary of the good consequences. That is, one might ask "Consequences for whom?" A fundamental distinction can be drawn between theories which require that agents act for ends perhaps disconnected from their own interests and drives, and theories which permit that agents act for ends in which they have some personal interest or motivation . These are called "agent-neutral" and "agent-focused" theories respectively. Agent-neutral consequentialism ignores

7137-463: Is desirable. At the same time, the greater society must maintain a socially just distribution of goods. Rawls argued that differences in material wealth are tolerable if general economic growth and wealth also benefit the poorest. A Theory of Justice countered utilitarian thinking in the tradition of Jeremy Bentham , instead following the Kantian concept of a social contract , picturing society as

7320-400: Is determined by that action's effects—and rule consequentialism —in which moral behavior is derived from following rules that lead to positive outcomes. The two-level approach to consequentialism is most often associated with R. M. Hare and Peter Singer . Another consequentialist application view is motive consequentialism, which looks at whether the state of affairs that results from

7503-567: Is does not mean that is how it ought to be, which was a very influential idea on normative politics. Known as the father of liberalism, Adam Smith explained emergence of economic benefits from the self-interested behavior (the invisible hand ) of artisans and traders. While praising its efficiency, Smith also expressed concern about the effects of industrial labor (e.g., repetitive activity) on workers. His work on moral sentiments sought to explain social bonds which enhance economic activity. Immanuel Kant argued that participation in civil society

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7686-403: Is found in traditional societies in which there is rule by one (a monarchy) or a few (an aristocracy). Though one could be worried about restrictions on liberty by benevolent monarchs or aristocrats, the traditional worry is that when rulers are politically unaccountable to the governed they will rule in their own interests, rather than the interests of the governed. Mill's explicit theory of rights

7869-771: Is held by the Liberal Party of Canada , while in the United States , social liberalism is a significant force within the Democratic Party . Giving an exhaustive list of social liberal parties worldwide is difficult, mainly because political organisations are not always ideologically pure, and party ideologies often change over time. However, peers such as the Africa Liberal Network , the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party ,

8052-457: Is introduced in Chapter V of Utilitarianism in the context of his sanction theory of duty, which is an indirect form of utilitarianism that identifies wrong actions as actions that it is useful to sanction. Mill then introduces justice as a proper part of the duty. Justice involves duties that are perfect duties—that is, duties that are correlated with rights. Justice implies something which it

8235-471: Is not a consequentialist per se, this is taken as a classic statement of negative utilitarianism.) When considering a theory of justice , negative consequentialists may use a statewide or global-reaching principle: the reduction of suffering (for the disadvantaged) is more valuable than increased pleasure (for the affluent or luxurious). Since pure consequentialism holds that an action is to be judged solely by its result, most consequentialist theories hold that

8418-399: Is not in a position to stand back and examine the dilemma as a whole. In practice, this equates to adhering to rule consequentialism when one can only reason on an intuitive level, and to act consequentialism when in a position to stand back and reason on a more critical level. This position can be described as a reconciliation between act consequentialism —in which the morality of an action

8601-500: Is not only right to do, and wrong not to do, but which some individual person can claim from us as a matter of right. These perfect duties will thus create liberty and collective freedom within a state. He uses, On Liberty to discuss gender equality in society. To Mill, Utilitarianism was the perfect tool to justify gender equality in The Subjection of Women, referring to the political, lawful and social subjection of women. When

8784-652: Is notable for the theories that humans are social animals, and that the polis (Ancient Greek city state) existed to bring about the good life appropriate to such animals. Roman political philosophy was influenced by the Stoics and the Roman statesman Cicero . Medieval political philosophy in Europe was heavily influenced by Christian thinking. It had much in common with the Mutazilite Islamic thinking in that

8967-421: Is often referred to as social liberalism because it expresses the social dimension of liberalism; however, it is not the same as the broader political ideology known as social liberalism. In American politics , a social liberal may hold either conservative ( economic liberal ) or liberal ( economic progressive ) views on fiscal policy . By the end of the 19th century, downturns in economic growth challenged

9150-623: Is right if and only if it, or the rule under which it falls, produces, will probably produce, or is intended to produce, a greater balance of good over evil than any alternative act. This concept is exemplified by the famous aphorism , "the end justifies the means ," variously attributed to Machiavelli or Ovid i.e. if a goal is morally important enough, any method of achieving it is acceptable. Teleological ethical theories are contrasted with deontological ethical theories, which hold that acts themselves are inherently good or bad, rather than good or bad because of extrinsic factors (such as

9333-515: Is scholarly debate surrounding the place of canon law within the Thomistic jurisprudential framework. Aquinas was an incredibly influential thinker in the Natural Law tradition . In synthesizing Christian theology and Peripatetic (Aristotelian) teaching in his Treatise on Law , Aquinas contends that God's gift of higher reason—manifest in human law by way of the divine virtues—gives way to

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9516-406: Is stated as a criticism of rule consequentialism. Like deontology, rule consequentialism holds that moral behavior involves following certain rules. However, rule consequentialism chooses rules based on the consequences that the selection of those rules has. Rule consequentialism exists in the forms of rule utilitarianism and rule egoism . Various theorists are split as to whether the rules are

9699-436: Is sufficient. An example of this is the slippery-slope argument, which encourages others to avoid a specified act on the grounds that it may ultimately lead to undesirable consequences. Often "negative" consequentialist theories assert that reducing suffering is more important than increasing pleasure. Karl Popper , for example, claimed that "from the moral point of view, pain cannot be outweighed by pleasure." (While Popper

9882-634: Is that I cannot aid you in this noble enterprise, the finest and most respectable which the human mind can point out." After Voltaire, religion would never be the same again in France. John Locke in particular exemplified this new age of political theory with his work Two Treatises of Government . In it, Locke proposes a state of nature theory that directly complements his conception of how political development occurs and how it can be founded through contractual obligation. Locke stood to refute Sir Robert Filmer 's paternally founded political theory in favor of

10065-433: Is the duty of the state to protect the freedom and independence of the country and to regulate internal affairs, the state must take care of the education and health of its citizens. The state must take care of the roads, railways, telegraphs, telephones, animals of the country, all kinds of vehicles and the general wealth of the nation to protect the peace and security of the country. During the administration and protection of

10248-538: Is undertaken not for self-preservation, as per Thomas Hobbes , but as a moral duty. He was the first modern thinker who fully analyzed structure and meaning of obligation. He also argued that an international organization was needed to preserve world peace. John Stuart Mill 's work on political philosophy begins in On Liberty , the most influential statement of his liberal principles. He begins by distinguishing old and new threats to liberty. The old threat to liberty

10431-861: The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats , the European Liberal Forum , the Liberal International , and the Liberal Network for Latin America or scholars usually accept them as parties who are following social liberalism as a core ideology. Social liberal political parties that are more left-biased than general centre-left parties are not described here. (See list of progressive parties ) Some notable scholars and politicians ordered by date of birth who are generally considered as having made significant contributions to

10614-608: The European People's Party , the Greens–European Free Alliance , and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats also house some political parties with social-liberal factions. In North America, social liberalism (as Europe would refer to it) tends to be the dominant form of liberalism present, so in common parlance, "liberal" refers to social liberals. In Canada , social liberalism

10797-727: The German Economic Association . He published the socialist democratic manifesto "Social-liberal: Tasks for Liberalism in Prussia" to create an "action group" for the general people's welfare in the Social Democratic Party of Germany , which they rejected. The National-Social Association , founded by the Protestant pastor Friedrich Naumann also maintained contacts with the left liberals. He tried to draw workers away from Marxism by proposing

10980-748: The Great Depression and the New Deal . In the 1870s and the 1880s, the American economists Richard Ely , John Bates Clark , and Henry Carter Adams —influenced both by socialism and the Evangelical Protestant movement—castigated the conditions caused by industrial factories and expressed sympathy toward labour unions . However, none developed a systematic political philosophy, and they later abandoned their flirtations with socialist thinking. In 1883, Lester Frank Ward published

11163-457: The Great Depression when Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office. The welfare state grew gradually and unevenly from the late 19th century but fully developed following World War II, along with the mixed market economy and general welfare capitalism . Also called embedded liberalism , social liberal policies gained broad support across the political spectrum because they reduced society's disruptive and polarizing tendencies without challenging

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11346-860: The Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom, the Democrats 66 in the Netherlands, and the Danish Social Liberal Party . In continental European politics, social liberal parties are integrated into the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament , the third biggest group in the parliament, and includes social liberal parties, market liberal parties, and centrist parties. Other groups such as

11529-693: The Liberal Party in Britain from 1906 until 1914. These initiatives became known as the Liberal welfare reforms . The main elements included pensions for poor older adults, and health, sickness, and unemployment insurance . These changes were accompanied by progressive taxation , particularly in the People's Budget of 1909. The old system of charity relying on the Poor Laws and supplemented by private charity, public cooperatives, and private insurance companies

11712-577: The Medici family. At any rate, Machiavelli presents a pragmatic and somewhat consequentialist view of politics, whereby good and evil are mere means used to bring about an end—i.e., the acquisition and maintenance of absolute power. Thomas Hobbes , well known for his theory of the social contract , goes on to expand this view at the start of the 17th century during the English Renaissance . Although neither Machiavelli nor Hobbes believed in

11895-577: The Qin dynasty , but was replaced by State Confucianism in the Han dynasty . Each had religious or mythic aspects as well that played into how they viewed fairness in governance. Prior to China's adoption of communism , State Confucianism remained the dominant political philosophy of China up to the 20th century. Western political philosophy originates in the philosophy of ancient Greece , where political philosophy dates back to at least Plato . Ancient Greece

12078-480: The Renaissance . Some medieval political philosophers, such as Aquinas in his Summa Theologica , developed the idea that a king who is a tyrant is no king at all and could be overthrown. Others, like Nicole Oresme in his Livre de Politiques , categorically denied this right to overthrow an unjust ruler. Magna Carta , viewed by many as a cornerstone of Anglo-American political liberty, explicitly proposes

12261-628: The Roman Catholics thought subordinating philosophy to theology did not subject reason to revelation but in the case of contradictions, subordinated reason to faith as the Asharite of Islam. The Scholastics by combining the philosophy of Aristotle with the Christianity of St. Augustine emphasized the potential harmony inherent in reason and revelation. Scholastic political philosophy dominated European thought for centuries even unto

12444-468: The Turkmens who were coming from the north (present day southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). The 14th-century Arab scholar Ibn Khaldun is considered one of the greatest political theorists. The British philosopher-anthropologist Ernest Gellner considered Ibn Khaldun's definition of government , "...an institution which prevents injustice other than such as it commits itself,"

12627-454: The absence of pain , the satisfaction of one's preferences , and broader notions of the " general good ". Consequentialism is usually contrasted with deontological ethics (or deontology ): deontology, in which rules and moral duty are central, derives the rightness or wrongness of one's conduct from the character of the behaviour itself, rather than the outcomes of the conduct. It is also contrasted with both virtue ethics , which focuses on

12810-467: The "best statement and defence, so far, of one of the most important moral theories." It is the business of the benevolent man to seek to promote what is beneficial to the world and to eliminate what is harmful, and to provide a model for the world. What benefits he will carry out; what does not benefit men he will leave alone ( Chinese : 仁之事者, 必务求于天下之利, 除天下之害, 将以为法乎天下. 利人乎, 即为; 不利人乎, 即止). State consequentialism , also known as Mohist consequentialism ,

12993-579: The "core" terms of the Qur'an—i.e., ibadah (worship), din (religion), rab (master) and ilah (deity)—is taken as the basis of an analysis. Hence, not only the ideas of the Muslim political philosophers but also many other jurists and ulama posed political ideas and theories. For example, the ideas of the Khawarij in the very early years of Islamic history on Khilafa and Ummah , or that of Shia Islam on

13176-412: The 1930s, John Dewey—an educator influenced by Hobhouse, Green, and Ward—advocated socialist methods to achieve liberal goals. John Dewey's expanding popularity as an economist also coincided with the greater Georgist movement that rose in the 1910s, pinnacling with the presidency of Woodrow Wilson . America later incorporated some social liberal ideas into the New Deal , which developed as a response to

13359-428: The 1970s political and philosophic academia. Rawls may therefore be a "patron saint" of social liberalism. Following economic problems in the 1960s and 1970s, liberal thought underwent some transformation. Keynesian financial management faced criticism for interfering with the free market. At the same time, increased welfare spending funded by higher taxes prompted fears of lower investment, lower consumer spending , and

13542-945: The Asharites, reason must be subordinate to the Quran and the Sunna. Islamic political philosophy , was, indeed, rooted in the very sources of Islam —i.e., the Qur'an and the Sunnah , the words and practices of Muhammad—thus making it essentially theocratic. However, in Western thought, it is generally supposed that it was a specific area peculiar merely to the great philosophers of Islam: al-Kindi (Alkindus), al-Farabi (Abunaser), İbn Sina (Avicenna), Ibn Bajjah (Avempace) and Ibn Rushd (Averroes). The political conceptions of Islam such as kudrah (power), sultan , ummah , cemaa (obligation)-and even

13725-445: The Christian religion] is assuredly the most ridiculous, the most absurd and the most bloody religion which has ever infected this world. Your Majesty will do the human race an eternal service by extirpating this infamous superstition, I do not say among the rabble, who are not worthy of being enlightened and who are apt for every yoke; I say among honest people, among men who think, among those who wish to think. ... My one regret in dying

13908-478: The New Liberals made a case against laissez-faire classical liberalism. It argued in favour of state intervention in social, economic and cultural life. What they proposed is now called social liberalism. The New Liberals, including intellectuals Thomas Hill Green , Leonard Hobhouse and John A. Hobson , saw individual liberty achievable only under favourable social and economic circumstances. In their view,

14091-705: The Second World War. What was new in these reforms was the underlying assumption that the state could be a positive force, that the measure of individual freedom ... was not how much the state left people alone, but whether he gave them the capacity to fill themselves as individuals. In 1860s Germany, left-liberal politicians like Max Hirsch , Franz Duncker , and Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch established trade unions —modelled on their British counterparts—to help workers improve working and economic conditions through reconciliation of interests and cooperation with their employers rather than class struggle. Schulze-Delitzsch

14274-634: The United States President Ronald Reagan . They pursued policies of deregulation of the economy and reduction in spending on social services. Part of the reason for the collapse of the social liberal coalition was a challenge in the 1960s and 1970s from financial interests that could operate independently of national governments. A related reason was the comparison of ideas such as socialized medicine, advocated by politicians such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, facing criticisms and being dubbed as socialist by conservatives during

14457-569: The United States, and Keynesian liberalism . Cultural liberalism is an ideology that highlights its cultural aspects. The world has widely adopted social liberal policies. Social liberal ideas and parties tend to be considered centre to centre-left , although there are deviations from these positions to both the political left or right . Addressing economic and social issues, such as poverty , welfare , infrastructure , healthcare and education using government intervention, while emphasising individual rights and autonomy, are expectations under

14640-570: The West. A minority (including Jean-Jacques Rousseau ) interpreted The Prince as a satire meant to be given to the Medici after their recapture of Florence and their subsequent expulsion of Machiavelli from Florence. Though the work was written for the di Medici family in order to perhaps influence them to free him from exile, Machiavelli supported the Republic of Florence rather than the oligarchy of

14823-399: The academic field was wholly scholastic and therefore Christian in nature. One of the most influential works during this burgeoning period was Niccolò Machiavelli 's The Prince , written between 1511–12 and published in 1532, after Machiavelli's death. That work, as well as The Discourses , a rigorous analysis of classical antiquity , did much to influence modern political thought in

15006-667: The act's consequences or the moral character of the person who acts). Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of causes and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think... In summary, Jeremy Bentham states that people are driven by their interests and their fears, but their interests take precedence over their fears; their interests are carried out in accordance with how people view

15189-408: The actions of an agent may include other actions by this agent. Actualism and possibilism disagree on how later possible actions impact the normative status of the current action by the same agent. Actualists assert that it is only relevant what the agent would actually do later for assessing the value of an alternative. Possibilists, on the other hand, hold that we should also take into account what

15372-407: The agent could do, even if she would not do it. For example, assume that Gifre has the choice between two alternatives, eating a cookie or not eating anything. Having eaten the first cookie, Gifre could stop eating cookies, which is the best alternative. But after having tasted one cookie, Gifre would freely decide to continue eating cookies until the whole bag is finished, which would result in

15555-491: The agent might be concerned with the general welfare, but the agent is more concerned with the immediate welfare of herself and her friends and family. These two approaches could be reconciled by acknowledging the tension between an agent's interests as an individual and as a member of various groups, and seeking to somehow optimize among all of these interests. For example, it may be meaningful to speak of an action as being good for someone as an individual, but bad for them as

15738-501: The assembly of righteous government. The rise of Islam , based on both the Qur'an and Muhammad strongly altered the power balances and perceptions of origin of power in the Mediterranean region. Early Islamic philosophy emphasized an inexorable link between science and religion , and the process of ijtihad to find truth —in effect all philosophy was " political " as it had real implications for governance. This view

15921-464: The best consequences for everyone, not necessarily including themselves (similar to selflessness). This was advocated by Auguste Comte , who coined the term altruism , and whose ethics can be summed up in the phrase "Live for others." The two-level approach involves engaging in critical reasoning and considering all the possible ramifications of one's actions before making an ethical decision, but reverting to generally reliable moral rules when one

16104-404: The best form for a state could be. These fundamental questions involved a conceptual distinction between the concepts of "state" and "government." It was decided that "state" would refer to a set of enduring institutions through which power would be distributed and its use justified. The term "government" would refer to a specific group of people who occupied the institutions of the state, and create

16287-541: The best in the history of political theory. For Ibn Khaldun, government should be restrained to a minimum for as a necessary evil, it is the constraint of men by other men. During the Renaissance secular political philosophy began to emerge after about a century of theological political thought in Europe. While the Middle Ages did see secular politics in practice under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire ,

16470-400: The best possible course of action involves eating the first cookie and this is therefore what Gifre should do. One counterintuitive consequence of actualism is that agents can avoid moral obligations simply by having an imperfect moral character . For example, a lazy person might justify rejecting a request to help a friend by arguing that, due to her lazy character, she would not have done

16653-420: The best way to achieve "the greatest good for the greatest number" : "The principle that regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes … and is now one of the chief obstacles to human improvement…" The 'chief obstacle' to Mill relates to women's intellectual capability. The Subjection of Women looks at this in the women of society and argues that diminishing their intellectual potential wastes

16836-471: The best." According to Mansfield, political science and political philosophy are two distinct kinds of political philosophy, one modern and the other ancient. He stresses that the only way to understand modern political science and its ancient alternative fully is to enter the history of political philosophy and to study the tradition handed down over the centuries. Although modern political science feels no obligation to look at its roots, and might even denigrate

17019-409: The capitalist economic system. Businesses accepted social liberalism in the face of widespread dissatisfaction with the boom and bust cycle of the earlier financial system as it seemed to them to be a lesser evil than more left-wing modes of government. Characteristics of social liberalism were cooperation between big business, government, and labour unions. Governments could assume a vital role because

17202-493: The character of the agent rather than on the nature or consequences of the act (or omission) itself, and pragmatic ethics , which treats morality like science : advancing collectively as a society over the course of many lifetimes, such that any moral criterion is subject to revision. Some argue that consequentialist theories (such as utilitarianism ) and deontological theories (such as Kantian ethics ) are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, T. M. Scanlon advances

17385-636: The church in France was François Marie Arouet de Voltaire , a representative figure of the enlightenment. Historians have described Voltaire's description of the history of Christianity as "propagandistic". Voltaire is partially responsible for the misattribution of the expression Credo quia absurdum to the Church Fathers. In a letter to Frederick II, King of Prussia, dated 5 January 1767, he wrote about Christianity: La nôtre [religion] est sans contredit la plus ridicule, la plus absurde, et la plus sanguinaire qui ait jamais infecté le monde. "Ours [i.e.,

17568-455: The circumstances or all the possible consequences. Consequentialist theories that adopt this paradigm hold that right action is the action that will bring about the best consequences from this ideal observer's perspective. In practice, it is very difficult, and at times arguably impossible, to adopt the point of view of an ideal observer . Individual moral agents do not know everything about their particular situations, and thus do not know all

17751-527: The concept of Imamah are considered proofs of political thought. The clashes between the Ehl-i Sunna and Shia in the 7th and 8th centuries had a genuine political character. Political thought was not purely rooted in theism, however. Aristotleanism flourished as the Islamic Golden Age saw rise to a continuation of the peripatetic philosophers who implemented the ideas of Aristotle in

17934-411: The concept of consequentialism to promote a rights based system. He also developed his liberal dogma by combining the idea of using a utilitarian foundation to base upon the idea of individual rights. The new liberals tried to adapt the old language of liberalism to confront these difficult circumstances, which they believed could only be resolved through a broader and more interventionist conception of

18117-456: The concept of natural order was not introduced, the social sciences could not evolve independently of theistic thinking. Since the cultural revolution of the 17th century in England, which spread to France and the rest of Europe, society has been considered subject to natural laws akin to the physical world. Political and economic relations were drastically influenced by these theories as

18300-553: The concept of the guild was subordinated to the theory of free trade , and Roman Catholic dominance of theology was increasingly challenged by Protestant churches subordinate to each nation-state , which also (in a fashion the Roman Catholic Church often decried angrily) preached in the vulgar or native language of each region. Free trade, as opposed to these religious theories, is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as

18483-414: The consequences that might be involved with their interests. Happiness , in this account, is defined as the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain. It can be argued that the existence of phenomenal consciousness and " qualia " is required for the experience of pleasure or pain to have an ethical significance. Historically, hedonistic utilitarianism is the paradigmatic example of

18666-485: The context of the Islamic world. Abunaser, Avicenna and Ibn Rushd where part of this philosophical school who claimed that human reason surpassed mere coincidence and revelation. They believed, for example, that natural phenomena occur because of certain rules (made by god), not because god interfered directly (unlike Al-Ghazali and his followers). Other notable political philosophers of the time include Nizam al-Mulk ,

18849-401: The country, the things we just counted are more important than cannons, rifles and all kinds of weapons. (...) Private interests are generally the opposite of the general interests. Also, private interests are based on rivalries. But, you can't create a stable economy only with this. People who think like that are delusional and they will be a failure. (...) And, work of an individual must stay as

19032-470: The creation of a "dependency culture." Trade unions often caused high wages and industrial disruption, while total employment was considered unsustainable. Writers such as Milton Friedman and Samuel Brittan , whom Friedrich Hayek influenced, advocated a reversal of social liberalism. Their policies—often called neoliberalism —had a significant influence on Western politics, most notably on the governments of United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and

19215-412: The divine right of kings, they both believed in the inherent selfishness of the individual. It was necessarily this belief that led them to adopt a strong central power as the only means of preventing the disintegration of the social order. The main practical conclusion of Hobbes' political theory is that state or society can not be secure unless at the disposal of an absolute sovereign. From this follows

19398-405: The dramatic opening lines, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Those who think themselves the masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they." Rousseau claimed that the state of nature was a primitive condition without law or morality, which human beings left for the benefits and necessity of cooperation. As society developed, the division of labor and private property required

19581-413: The economic policies of the New Deal appeared Keynesian , there was no revision of liberal theory in favour of more significant state initiatives. Even though the United States lacked an effective socialist movement, New Deal policies often appeared radical and were attacked by the right. American liberalism would eventually evolve into a more anti-communist ideology as a result. American exceptionalism

19764-619: The end of the 20th century, at the same time that it was losing political influence, social liberalism experienced an intellectual revival with several substantial authors, including John Rawls (political philosophy), Amartya Sen (philosophy and economy), Ronald Dworkin (philosophy of law), Martha Nussbaum (philosophy), Bruce Ackerman (constitutional law), and others. In Europe, social liberal parties tend to be small or medium-sized centrist and centre-left parties. Examples of successful European social liberal parties participating in government coalitions at national or regional levels include

19947-506: The evil of discord and civil war. Beginning from a mechanistic understanding of human beings and their passions, Hobbes postulates what life would be like without government, a condition which he calls the state of nature. In that state, each person would have a right, or license, to everything in the world. This, Hobbes argues, would lead to a "war of all against all". During the Enlightenment period, new theories emerged about what

20130-416: The evolution of social liberalism as a political ideology include: Political philosophy Political theory also engages questions of a broader scope, tackling the political nature of phenomena and categories such as identity , culture , sexuality , race , wealth , human-nonhuman relations , ethics , religion , and more. Political philosophy is a branch of philosophy , but it has also played

20313-405: The first thinker to relate ethics to the political order. The major philosophies during the period, Confucianism , Legalism , Mohism , Agrarianism and Taoism , each had a political aspect to their philosophical schools. Philosophers such as Confucius , Mencius , and Mozi , focused on political unity and political stability as the basis of their political philosophies. Confucianism advocated

20496-560: The foundations of the welfare state in the United Kingdom before World War I. The comprehensive welfare state built in the United Kingdom after World War II, although primarily accomplished by the Labour Party 's Attlee ministry , was significantly designed by two Liberals, namely John Maynard Keynes (who laid the foundations in economics with the Keynesian Revolution ) and William Beveridge (whose Beveridge Report

20679-406: The free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold liberal economic positions while economically left-wing and nationalist political parties generally support protectionism, the opposite of free trade. However, the enlightenment was an outright attack on religion, particularly Christianity. The most outspoken critic of

20862-476: The grounds that the moral worth of an action is premised on the predictive capabilities of the individual, relieving them of the responsibility for the "badness" of an act should they "make out a case for not having foreseen" negative consequences. Immanuel Kant makes a similar argument against consequentialism in the case of the inquiring murder. The example asks whether or not it would be right to give false statement to an inquiring murderer in order to misdirect

21045-418: The happily still undisciplined discipline of political science ... For a long time, the challenge for the identity of political theory has been how to position itself productively in three sorts of location: in relation to the academic disciplines of political science, history, and philosophy; between the world of politics and the more abstract, ruminative register of theory; between canonical political theory and

21228-509: The human race to adopt institutions of law. In the degenerate phase of society, man is prone to be in frequent competition with his fellow men while also becoming increasingly dependent on them. This double pressure threatens both his survival and his freedom. G. W. F. Hegel emphasized the "cunning" of history, arguing that it followed a rational trajectory, even while embodying seemingly irrational forces. Hegel influenced Marx, Kierkegaard , Nietzsche , and Oakeshott . Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

21411-983: The human was and is and about the definition of reality and the way it was perceived, along with the discovery of other societies in the Americas, and the changing needs of political societies (especially in the wake of the English Civil War , the American Revolution , the French Revolution , and the Haitian Revolution ). These new theories led to new questions and insights by thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes , John Locke , Benjamin Constant and Jean-Jacques Rousseau . These theorists were driven by two basic questions: one, by what right or need do people form states; and two, what

21594-519: The idea that human rights , which are commonly considered a "deontological" concept, can only be justified with reference to the consequences of having those rights. Similarly, Robert Nozick argued for a theory that is mostly consequentialist, but incorporates inviolable "side-constraints" which restrict the sort of actions agents are permitted to do. Derek Parfit argued that, in practice, when understood properly, rule consequentialism, Kantian deontology, and contractualism would all end up prescribing

21777-431: The ideal of maximizing the good. He writes: [T]he best argument for rule-consequentialism is not that it derives from an overarching commitment to maximise the good. The best argument for rule-consequentialism is that it does a better job than its rivals of matching and tying together our moral convictions, as well as offering us help with our moral disagreements and uncertainties. Derek Parfit described Hooker's book as

21960-455: The individual away from the intended victim. He argues, in On a Supposed Right to Tell Lies from Benevolent Motives , that lying from "benevolent motives," here the motive to maximize the good consequences by protecting the intended victim, should then make the liar responsible for the consequences of the act. For example, it could be that by misdirecting the inquiring murder away from where one thought

22143-448: The intended victim was actually directed the murder to the intended victim. That such an act is immoral mirrors Anscombe's objection to Sidgwick that his consequentialism would problematically absolve the consequentalist of moral responsibility when the consequentalist fails to foresee the true consequences of an act. The future amplification of the effects of small decisions is an important factor that makes it more difficult to predict

22326-547: The knowledge and skill of half of the population; such knowledge lost could formulate ideas that could maximize pleasure for society. James Madison was an American politician considered to be "Father of the Constitution " and "Father of the Bill of Rights " of the United States. As a political theorist, he believed in separation of powers and proposed a comprehensive set of checks and balances that are necessary to protect

22509-467: The laws and ordinances by which the people, themselves included, would be bound. This conceptual distinction continues to operate in political science , although some political scientists, philosophers, historians and cultural anthropologists have argued that most political action in any given society occurs outside of its state, and that there are societies that are not organized into states that nevertheless must be considered in political terms. As long as

22692-534: The left-liberal past and had a leftist social wing and a rightist economic wing but heavily favoured the democratic constitution over a monarchist one. Its ideas of a socially balanced economy with solidarity, duty, and rights among all workers struggled due to the economic sanctions of the Treaty of Versailles , but it influenced local cooperative enterprises. After 1945, the Free Democrats included most of

22875-407: The main basis of economic growth. Not preventing an individual's work and not obstructing the individual's freedom and enterprise with the state's own activities is the main basis of the principle of democracy. Moreover, Atatürk said this in his opening speech on 1 November 1937: "Unless there is an absolute necessity, the markets can't be intervened; also, no markets can be completely free." Also it

23058-565: The midst of the Red Scare , notably by the previously mentioned Reagan. Another cause was the decline of organized labour which had formed part of the coalition but was also a support for left-wing ideologies challenging the liberal consensus. Related to this were the downfall of working-class consciousness and the growth of the middle class. The push by the United States and the United Kingdom, which had been least accepting of social liberalism for trade liberalization, further eroded support. From

23241-479: The modern world, commerce was superior to war. He attacked Napoleon's martial appetite, on the grounds that it was illiberal and no longer suited to modern commercial social organization. Ancient Liberty tended to be warlike, whereas a state organized on the principles of Modern Liberty would be at peace with all peaceful nations. Rousseau analyzed the social contract as an expression of the general will , and controversially argued in favor of absolute democracy where

23424-448: The most influential political philosopher of medieval Europe was St. Thomas Aquinas who helped reintroduce Aristotle 's works, which had only been transmitted to Catholic Europe through Muslim Spain, along with the commentaries of Averroes . Aquinas meticulously dealt with the varieties of philosophy of law . According to Aquinas, there are four kinds of law: Aquinas never discusses the nature or categorization of canon law . There

23607-413: The motive to choose an action is better or at least as good as each alternative state of affairs that would have resulted from alternative actions. This version gives relevance to the motive of an act and links it to its consequences. An act can therefore not be wrong if the decision to act was based on a right motive. A possible inference is that one can not be blamed for mistaken judgments if the motivation

23790-404: The newer resources (such as feminist and critical theory , discourse analysis , film and film theory , popular and political culture, mass media studies , neuroscience , environmental studies , behavioral science , and economics ) on which political theorists increasingly draw." In a 1956 American Political Science Review report authored by Harry Eckstein , political philosophy as

23973-513: The only determinant of moral behavior or not. For example, Robert Nozick held that a certain set of minimal rules, which he calls "side-constraints," are necessary to ensure appropriate actions. There are also differences as to how absolute these moral rules are. Thus, while Nozick's side-constraints are absolute restrictions on behavior, Amartya Sen proposes a theory that recognizes the importance of certain rules, but these rules are not absolute. That is, they may be violated if strict adherence to

24156-628: The only legitimate role for the state was to abolish barriers to market entry. He viewed Rüstow's proposals as negating market freedom and saw them as similar to socialism. Following World War II, the West German government adopted Rüstow's neoliberalism, now usually called ordoliberalism or the social market economy , under Ludwig Erhard . He was the Minister of Economics and later became Chancellor. Erhard lifted price controls and introduced free markets. While Germany's post-war economic recovery

24339-495: The other way round. This is due to changes in the meaning of the word, not due to changes in perceptions of W.D. Ross's and J.S. Mill's views. One common view is to classify consequentialism, together with virtue ethics , under a broader label of "teleological ethics". Proponents of teleological ethics (Greek: telos , 'end, purpose' + logos , 'science') argue that the moral value of any act consists in its tendency to produce things of intrinsic value , meaning that an act

24522-528: The people at large would act as sovereign . The Social Contract (1762) outlines the basis for a legitimate political order within a framework of classical republicanism, becoming one of the most influential works of political philosophy in the Western tradition. It developed some of the ideas mentioned in earlier work, the article Discours sur l'oeconomie politique ( Discourse on Political Economy ), featured in Diderot's Encyclopédie . The treatise begins with

24705-488: The political philosophy of the Confucian philosopher Xunzi . On the other hand, "legalist" Han Fei "is motivated almost totally from the ruler's point of view." Ethical egoism can be understood as a consequentialist theory according to which the consequences for the individual agent are taken to matter more than any other result. Thus, egoism will prescribe actions that may be beneficial, detrimental, or neutral to

24888-440: The possible consequences of their potential actions. For this reason, some theorists have argued that consequentialist theories can only require agents to choose the best action in line with what they know about the situation. However, if this approach is naïvely adopted, then moral agents who, for example, recklessly fail to reflect on their situation, and act in a way that brings about terrible results, could be said to be acting in

25071-516: The poverty, squalor, and ignorance in which many people lived made it impossible for freedom and individuality to flourish. New Liberals believed through collective action coordinated by a strong, welfare-oriented and interventionist state could alleviate these conditions. The Liberal governments of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and H. H. Asquith , mainly thanks to Chancellor of the Exchequer and later Prime Minister David Lloyd George , established

25254-458: The precondition that privileged positions are accessible to everyone, that everyone has equal opportunities and that even the least advantaged members of society benefit from this framework. This framework repeated itself in the equation of Justice as Fairness . Rawls proposed these principles not just to adherents of liberalism but as a basis for all democratic politics, regardless of ideology. The work advanced social liberal ideas immensely within

25437-417: The primary focus of our thinking about ethics, virtue ethics insists that it is the character rather than the consequences of actions that should be the focal point. Some virtue ethicists hold that consequentialist theories totally disregard the development and importance of moral character. For example, Philippa Foot argues that consequences in themselves have no ethical content, unless it has been provided by

25620-425: The principal governing body of these states, consisted of the King, Prime Minister, Commander in chief of army, Chief Priest of the King. The Prime Minister headed the committee of ministers along with head of executive (Maha Amatya). Chanakya was a 4th-century BC Indian political philosopher. The Arthashastra provides an account of the science of politics for a wise ruler, policies for foreign affairs and wars,

25803-452: The principles of classical liberalism , a growing awareness of poverty and unemployment present within modern industrial cities, and the agitation of organised labour . A significant political reaction against the changes introduced by industrialisation and laissez-faire capitalism came from one-nation conservatives concerned about social balance and the introduction of the famous Education Act 1870 . However, socialism later became

25986-638: The purpose of abolitionist efforts, writing A Plea for Captain John Brown and The Last Days of John Brown . Noam Chomsky is a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, neoliberalism and contemporary state capitalism, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mainstream news media. His ideas have proven highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements, and aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. Consequentialism In moral philosophy , consequentialism

26169-645: The reforms. Liberals most identified with these reforms were Prime Minister H. H. Asquith , John Maynard Keynes , David Lloyd George (especially as Chancellor of the Exchequer ), and Winston Churchill (as President of the Board of Trade ), in addition to the civil servant (and later Liberal MP) William Beveridge . Most of the social democratic parties in Europe (notably the British Labour Party ) have taken on strong influences of social liberal ideology. Despite Britain's two major parties coming from

26352-458: The right to revolt against the ruler for justice's sake. Other documents similar to Magna Carta are found in other European countries such as Spain and Hungary. The early Christian philosophy of Augustine of Hippo was heavily influenced by Plato. A key change brought about by Christian thought was the moderation of the Stoicism and theory of justice of the Roman world, as well emphasis on

26535-470: The rights of an individual from the tyranny of the majority . Thomas Paine defended liberal democracy , the American Revolution , and the French Revolution in Common Sense and The Rights of Man . One of the first thinkers to go by the name of "liberal", Benjamin Constant looked to Britain rather than to ancient Rome for a practical model of freedom in a large, commercial society. He drew

26718-533: The role of government in addressing social inequalities and ensuring public welfare. Economically, social liberalism is based on the social market economy and views the common good as harmonious with the individual's freedom. Social liberals overlap with social democrats in accepting market intervention more than other liberals; its importance is considered auxiliary compared to social democrats. Ideologies that emphasize its economic policy include welfare liberalism , New Deal liberalism and New Democrats in

26901-533: The role of the state in applying mercy as a moral example . Augustine also preached that one was not a member of his or her city, but was either a citizen of the City of God (Civitas Dei) or the Earthly City ( Civitas Terrena). Augustine's City of God is an influential work of this period that attacked the thesis, held by many Christian Romans, that the Christian view could be realized on Earth . Perhaps

27084-536: The rule would lead to much more undesirable consequences. One of the most common objections to rule-consequentialism is that it is incoherent, because it is based on the consequentialist principle that what we should be concerned with is maximizing the good, but then it tells us not to act to maximize the good, but to follow rules (even in cases where we know that breaking the rule could produce better results). In Ideal Code, Real World , Brad Hooker avoids this objection by not basing his form of rule-consequentialism on

27267-406: The same as enjoying a great deal of pleasure, is the ultimate aim. Similarly, one might adopt an aesthetic consequentialism, in which the ultimate aim is to produce beauty. However, one might fix on non-psychological goods as the relevant effect. Thus, one might pursue an increase in material equality or political liberty instead of something like the more ephemeral "pleasure". Other theories adopt

27450-430: The same behavior. The term consequentialism was coined by G. E. M. Anscombe in her essay " Modern Moral Philosophy " in 1958. However, the meaning of the word has changed over the time since Anscombe used it: in the sense she coined it, she had explicitly placed J.S. Mill in the nonconsequentialist and W.D. Ross in the consequentialist camp, whereas, in the contemporary sense of the word, they would be classified

27633-431: The same time, they were strongly opposed to creating a welfare state , which they called state socialism . The main differences between the left-liberal parties were: The term social liberalism ( German : Sozialliberalismus ) was used first in 1891 by Austria-Hungarian economist and journalist Theodor Hertzka . Subsequently, in 1893, the historian and social reformer Ignaz Jastrow also used this term and joined

27816-426: The satisfaction of preferences, hence preference utilitarianism . Other contemporary forms of utilitarianism mirror the forms of consequentialism outlined below. In general, consequentialist theories focus on actions. However, this need not be the case. Rule consequentialism is a theory that is sometimes seen as an attempt to reconcile consequentialism with deontology , or rules-based ethics —and in some cases, this

27999-463: The seventeenth century and declared itself distinct and separate in the positivist movement of the late nineteenth century. He writes: "Today political science is often said to be 'descriptive' or 'empirical,' concerned with facts; political philosophy is called 'normative' because it expresses values. But these terms merely repeat in more abstract form the difference between political science, which seeks agreement, and political philosophy, which seeks

28182-416: The social contract theory of John Locke and others as resting on a myth of some actual agreement. Hume was a realist in recognizing the role of force to forge the existence of states and that consent of the governed was merely hypothetical. He also introduced the concept of utility , later picked up on and developed by Jeremy Bentham . Hume also coined the is–ought problem , i.e. that just because something

28365-667: The social liberals while others joined the Christian Democratic Union of Germany . Until the 1960s, post-war ordoliberalism was the model for Germany. It had a theoretical social liberal influence based on duty and rights. As the Free Democrats discarded social liberal ideas in a more conservative and economically liberal approach in 1982, some members left the party and formed the social liberal Liberal Democrats . In France, solidaristic thinkers, including Alfred Fouillée and Émile Durkheim , developed

28548-497: The social-liberal theory in the Third Republic. Sociology inspired them, and they influenced radical politicians like Léon Bourgeois . They explained that a more extensive division of labour caused more opportunity and individualism and inspired more complex interdependence. They argued that the individual had a debt to society, promoting progressive taxation to support public works and welfare schemes. However, they wanted

28731-467: The sole moral good, "the basic goods in Mohist consequentialist thinking are... order , material wealth , and increase in population ." The word "order" refers to Mozi's stance against warfare and violence , which he viewed as pointless and a threat to social stability; "material wealth" of Mohist consequentialism refers to basic needs , like shelter and clothing; and "increase in population" relates to

28914-417: The soul from original sin , Locke believes man's mind comes into this world as tabula rasa . For Locke, knowledge is neither innate, revealed nor based on authority but subject to uncertainty tempered by reason, tolerance and moderation. According to Locke, an absolute ruler as proposed by Hobbes is unnecessary, for natural law is based on reason and seeking peace and survival for man. David Hume criticized

29097-406: The specific value a state of affairs has for any particular agent. Thus, in an agent-neutral theory, an actor's personal goals do not count any more than anyone else's goals in evaluating what action the actor should take. Agent-focused consequentialism, on the other hand, focuses on the particular needs of the moral agent. Thus, in an agent-focused account, such as one that Peter Railton outlines,

29280-430: The state to coordinate rather than manage, encouraging cooperative insurance schemes among individuals. Their main objective was to remove barriers to social mobility rather than create a welfare state. Social liberalism was a term in the United States to differentiate it from classical liberalism or laissez-faire . It dominated political and economic thought for several years until the word branched off from it around

29463-400: The state. Ensuring that individuals did not physically interfere with each other or merely by impartially having formulated and applied laws could not establish an equal right to liberty. More positive and proactive measures were required to ensure that every individual would have an equal opportunity for success. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a group of British thinkers known as

29646-572: The subject as if it could not be of any real significance, he says, "our reasoning shows that the history of political philosophy is required for understanding its substance". Indian political philosophy in ancient times demarcated a clear distinction between (1) nation and state (2) religion and state. The constitutions of Hindu states evolved over time and were based on political and legal treatises and prevalent social institutions. The institutions of state were broadly divided into governance, diplomacy, administration, defense, law and order. Mantranga ,

29829-483: The system of a spy state and surveillance and economic stability of the state. Chanakya quotes several authorities including Bruhaspati, Ushanas, Prachetasa Manu, Parasara, and Ambi, and described himself as a descendant of a lineage of political philosophers, with his father Chanaka being his immediate predecessor. Another influential extant Indian treatise on political philosophy is the Sukra Neeti. An example of

30012-451: The temptation is irrepressible then this course of action is not considered to be an option and is therefore not relevant when assessing what the best alternative is. Portmore suggests that, given this adjustment, we should prefer a view very closely associated with possibilism called maximalism . One important characteristic of many normative moral theories such as consequentialism is the ability to produce practical moral judgements. At

30195-502: The time of Mozi , war and famine were common, and population growth was seen as a moral necessity for a harmonious society . In The Cambridge History of Ancient China , Stanford sinologist David Shepherd Nivison writes that the moral goods of Mohism "are interrelated: more basic wealth, then more reproduction ; more people, then more production and wealth...if people have plenty, they would be good, filial , kind, and so on unproblematically." The Mohists believed that morality

30378-509: The traditions of socialism and conservatism, the most substantive political and economic debates of recent times were between social liberal and classical liberal concepts. Alexander Rüstow , a German economist, first proposed the German variant of economically social liberalism. In 1932, he dubbed this kind of social liberalism neoliberalism while speaking at the Social Policy Association. However, that term now carries

30561-412: The two-volume Dynamic Sociology . He formalized the basic tenets of social liberalism while at the same time attacking the laissez-faire policies advocated by Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner . The historian Henry Steele Commager ranked Ward alongside William James , John Dewey , and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and called him the father of the modern welfare state. A writer from 1884 until

30744-430: The very least, any moral theory needs to define the standpoint from which the goodness of the consequences are to be determined. What is primarily at stake here is the responsibility of the agent. One common tactic among consequentialists, particularly those committed to an altruistic (selfless) account of consequentialism, is to employ an ideal, neutral observer from which moral judgements can be made. John Rawls ,

30927-421: The view that no individual can hold rights of property against the sovereign, and that the sovereign may therefore take the goods of its subjects without their consent. In Leviathan , Hobbes set out his doctrine of the foundation of states and legitimate governments and creating an objective science of morality. Much of the book is occupied with demonstrating the necessity of a strong central authority to avoid

31110-503: The wartime economy had strengthened their power, but the extent to which this occurred varied considerably among Western democracies. Social liberalism is also a generally internationalist ideology. Social liberalism has also historically been an advocate for liberal feminism among other forms social progress. Social liberals tend to find a compromise between the perceived extremes of unrestrained capitalism and state socialism to create an economy built on regulated capitalism . Due to

31293-421: The welfare of others. Some, like Henry Sidgwick , argue that a certain degree of egoism promotes the general welfare of society for two reasons: because individuals know how to please themselves best, and because if everyone were an austere altruist then general welfare would inevitably decrease. Ethical altruism can be seen as a consequentialist theory which prescribes that an individual take actions that have

31476-467: The work anyway, even if she had accepted the request. By rejecting the offer right away, she managed at least not to waste anyone's time. Actualists might even consider her behavior praiseworthy since she did what, according to actualism, she ought to have done. This seems to be a very easy way to "get off the hook" that is avoided by possibilism. But possibilism has to face the objection that in some cases it sanctions and even recommends what actually leads to

31659-465: The worst outcome. Douglas W. Portmore has suggested that these and other problems of actualism and possibilism can be avoided by constraining what counts as a genuine alternative for the agent. On his view, it is a requirement that the agent has rational control over the event in question. For example, eating only one cookie and stopping afterward only is an option for Gifre if she has the rational capacity to repress her temptation to continue eating. If

31842-458: Was a unique economic system for Turkey and that it was different from socialism , communism , and collectivism . Atatürk explained his economic idea as follows: State can't take the place of individuals, but, it must take into consideration the individuals to make them improve and develop theirselves. Etatism includes the work that individuals won't do because they can't make profit or the work which are necessary for national interests. Just as it

32025-547: Was an influential anarchist thinker writing on topics such as pacifism , environmentalism and civil disobedience – notably with his written work Civil Disobedience – who influenced later important political activists such as Leo Tolstoy , Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Hard-lining on the individual citizen's right to seek justice over the state's, he was also an outspoken advocate and apologist for John Brown following his raid on Harper's Ferry for

32208-492: Was challenged by the "rationalist" Mutazilite philosophers, who held a more Hellenic view, reason above revelation, and as such are known to modern scholars as the first speculative theologians of Islam; they were supported by a secular aristocracy who sought freedom of action independent of the Caliphate . By the late ancient period, however, the "traditionalist" Asharite view of Islam had in general triumphed. According to

32391-444: Was dominated by city-states, which experimented with various forms of political organization. Plato grouped forms of government into five categories of descending stability and morality: republic , timocracy , oligarchy , democracy and tyranny . One of the first, extremely important classical works of political philosophy is Plato's Republic , which was followed by Aristotle 's Nicomachean Ethics and Politics . Aristotle

32574-485: Was due to these policies, the welfare state—which Bismarck had established—became increasingly costly. The Kemalist economic model was designed by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1930s, founder of the Republic of Turkey, after an unsuccessful attempt to embrace a regulated market economy from İzmir Economic Congress until the 1929 Depression . He put the principle of " etatism " in his Six Arrows and stated that etatism

32757-531: Was in crisis, giving the state added impetus for reform. The Liberal Party caucus elected in 1906 also contained more professionals, including academics and journalists, sympathetic to social liberalism. The large business owners had mostly deserted the Liberals for the Conservatives , the latter becoming the favourite party for commercial interests. Both business interests and trade unions regularly opposed

32940-527: Was likely the reason for the separate development of modern liberalism in the United States , which kept mainstream American ideology within a narrow range. John Rawls ' principal work, A Theory of Justice (1971), can be considered a flagship exposition of social liberal thinking, noted for its use of analytic philosophy and advocating the combination of individual freedom and a fairer distribution of resources. According to Rawls, every individual should be allowed to choose and pursue their conception of what

33123-603: Was said by İsmet İnönü that Atatürk's principle of etatism was Keynesian and a Turkish variant of New Deal . The post-war governments of other countries in Western Europe also followed social liberal policies. These policies were implemented primarily by Christian democrats and social democrats as liberal parties in Europe declined in strength from their peak in the 19th century. American political discourse resisted this social turn in European liberalism. While

33306-651: Was to do good. Most consequentialist theories focus on promoting some sort of good consequences. However, negative utilitarianism lays out a consequentialist theory that focuses solely on minimizing bad consequences. One major difference between these two approaches is the agent's responsibility. Positive consequentialism demands that we bring about good states of affairs, whereas negative consequentialism requires that we avoid bad ones. Stronger versions of negative consequentialism will require active intervention to prevent bad and ameliorate existing harm. In weaker versions, simple forbearance from acts tending to harm others

33489-465: Was used to design the welfare system). Historian Peter Weiler has argued: Although still partially informed by older Liberal concerns for character, self-reliance, and the capitalist market, this legislation nevertheless marked a significant shift in Liberal approaches to the state and social reform, approaches that later governments would slowly expand and that would grow into the welfare state after

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