Historical Setting

• Liberalism is the first major political thought system emerging from factors behind the modern age, evolving over about two centuries to form its identity.

• It is a dynamic idea, adapting to changing social, economic, and political conditions while maintaining its core commitment to liberty.

• The origin of liberalism is traced to late seventeenth-century English political thought, though the term “liberalism” became common only in the early nineteenth century.

• Both liberty and liberalism derive from the Latin root liber, meaning to liberate or set free.

• The core idea is to liberate the individual from some form of bondage, chains, constraints, or restraints.

• The perception of constraints and the scope of the individual have changed over time, expanding to include more people and diverse demands for freedom.

• For example, liberty for entrepreneurs differs from liberty for workers.

• Liberalism has the potential to expand and transform across time and contexts.

• It seeks freedom to promote the self-directing power of personality, believing that a true community can be founded on this principle.

• L.T. Hobhouse stated liberalism believes society can be founded on the self-directing power of personality, creating an ever-expanding foundation for community.

• David G. Smith identified three key features of liberalism:
  (a) Valuing free expression of individual personality.
  (b) Belief in men’s ability to make this expression valuable to themselves and society.
  (c) Support for institutions and policies that protect and foster free expression and confidence in freedom.

• Before modernity, man’s life was dominated by authoritarianism:

  • Intellectual subjugation to religious beliefs and superstitions.

  • Faith dependent on religious authority.

  • Economic subordination to landed aristocracy and later to absolutist states with mercantile policies.

• Movements aspiring for freedom arose against these authoritarian forms, notably the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and the Enlightenment.

• Some of these were formative influences; others served as immediate causes for liberalism’s rise.

• Initially, liberalism focused on the freedom demands of the merchant-industrialist class.

• Over time, these demands expanded to cover all sections of society.

• When a new class wins liberty, it tends to demand political authority; this applies to liberalism.

• Harold J. Laski explained liberalism’s birth as a justification for the transfer of political authority from land-owning aristocracy to the commercial class.

• Like all philosophies justifying such a transfer, liberalism’s principles are expressed in theory more broadly than practiced in reality.

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism refers to a political outlook or attitude that requires everybody or everything to conform to an established order enshrined in customary practices or a set of beliefs. It subordinates all concerned to a person or a group which is regarded as the guardian of that order.

Absolutism

Absolutism refers to a form of rule in which all powers of governance are held by a single entity. Powers of the ruler are not restricted by any external limitations, such as those based on custom, precedent, natural law, divine law, common law, judicial interpreations of law, public demand or the force of public opinion.

Mercantile Policy

Mercantile policy refers to the policy which advocated state intervention in economy for the protection of indigenous industries to ensure import of cheap raw materials and export of expensive finished goods. These steps were thought to be necessary for enhancing national prosperity.

Renaissance

• The Renaissance was the first great movement heralding the advent of the modern age.

• It was a period of cultural revival in European history, beginning in the late fourteenth century in Italy, spreading to France in the fifteenth, and to England and Germany in the sixteenth centuries.

• The Renaissance was prompted by renewed interest in the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome.

• The Fall of Constantinople (1453) and its occupation by the Turks accelerated this process.

• Greek scholars fleeing Constantinople brought ancient manuscripts to Italy, profoundly influencing the intellectual atmosphere.

• Initially, the Renaissance transformed the content and style of art and literature, inspired by classical models.

• Eventually, it led to a total change in man’s outlook on life, affecting philosophical, scientific, technical, and economic spheres.

• The rise of a new merchant class in Europe further stimulated the Renaissance.

• This wealthy merchant class became patrons of art, ending the Church’s monopoly in this domain.

• Art and literature shifted from religious teachings to express human sentiments.

• They aimed to delight the senses and enrich human life by reflecting common man’s experiences, hopes, and aspirations.

• This promoted humanism in art and literature.

• These trends contributed to the development of new social and political ideas promoting the spirit of secularism.

• Public attention shifted from other-worldly issues to problems faced by men in the material world.

Humanism

Humanism refers to a philosophical outlook that treats human beings as the centre of attention in all spheres of life-philosophy, art, literature as well as politics and economics. Focus on human needs, human sensitivities, hopes and aspirations as well as human dignity is the hallmark of humanist outlook.

Secularism

Secularism refers to a political outlook which holds that religion should play no part in non-religious spheres of social life, such as education, clubs, politics, law, administration, business and professional dealings, etc.; the role of religion should be confined to religious institutions and religious matters.

Reformation

• Reformation was a sixteenth-century religious movement in Europe led by Martin Luther (1483-1546), a German theologian, culminating in the rise of Protestantism.

• The movement spread from Germany to France, Switzerland, Scandinavian countries, England, and Scotland.

• Luther challenged various Church practices and doctrines, especially the granting of indulgences (exemptions from punishment for sins), often exchanged for financial favors.

• He viewed indulgences as evidence of corruption and misuse of authority in the Roman Church.

• Luther translated the Bible (1522) from Hebrew and Greek texts into authentic German, making it accessible to the common people, breaking the monopoly of classical scholars and priests.

• This translation helped the Bible become the people’s book in churches, schools, and homes.

• Luther became the founder of Protestant theology.

• John Calvin (1509-64), French theologian, further developed Protestantism’s main tenets, emphasizing:

  • The inherently sinful nature of mankind.

  • Redemption only through absolute faith in Christ and fidelity to the word of God.

• Protestantism’s message gained a vast following, resulting in cultural transformation of society across Europe.

• Protestant doctrine promoted belief in the rational nature of man, capable of realizing truth independently.

• This belief later became a guiding principle of liberalism.

• Max Weber, German sociologist, argued that Protestantism laid the foundations for capitalism and industrialization in Europe.

Scientific Revolution

• The Scientific Revolution was the most potent factor behind the advent of the modern age.

• It introduced a series of inventions and discoveries that revolutionized production, transport, communication, and opened new areas for human settlements, expanding business and industry, transforming economic life.

• Intellectually, it smashed superstitions and promoted the scientific method for discovering truth.

• It introduced new techniques of warfare impacting social structure; for example, gunpowder—known to Chinese by the 11th century—was effectively used in Europe by the 15th century, ending the dominance of the aristocratic knight and weakening medieval aristocracy.

• The full scientific revolution began in the mid-16th century with scientists like Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543), René Descartes (1596-1650), and Isaac Newton (1642-1727).

• Their findings overturned the authority of the Middle Ages and the ancient world.

• While the Renaissance discovered new aspects of man and nature, the scientific revolution verified knowledge with proof.

• The language of science became universal, unlike the language of faith.

• Francis Bacon (1561-1626) was the chief exponent of the scientific method; he rejected the deductive method (‘general to particular’) and advocated the inductive method (‘particular to general’), based on observation and experimentation.

• Bacon identified four types of “idols” distorting knowledge, which must be smashed to attain true knowledge:
  (a) Idol of the tribe—human tendency to impose teleological (purpose-driven) views on nature.
  (b) Idol of the cave—distortion from personal biases based on individual social position or vocation.
  (c) Idols of the market—errors from conventionalized meanings of words taken for granted.
  (d) Idols of the theatre—acceptance of uncritical, stereotyped beliefs from authoritative past figures.

• Empirical observation is based on sensory experience (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) and must be verifiable by others.

• Bacon refuted the Greek ideal of ‘knowledge for knowledge’s sake’, asserting “knowledge is power”.

• Accumulated knowledge was desirable as it enabled men to increase happiness by gaining power over nature.

• Bacon emphasized knowledge in natural philosophy (natural sciences), obtained via experimental methods.

• Johannes Kepler (1561-1630) added the mathematical dimension to the scientific method.

• Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) refined the scientific method by introducing principles of mechanics and argued that motion, not rest, is the natural state of objects.

• Galileo emphasized that complex motions arise from simple motions and that quantification is key to scientific method.

• The printing press (1455) was crucial in spreading knowledge widely and cheaply, especially scientific knowledge.

• The scientific revolution discovered new energy forms (thermal, hydraulic, wind, electricity, magnetism) applied to operate machines.

• This enabled the production of standard goods with less labor and cost, fulfilling needs and increasing comfort, leading to the Industrial Revolution.

• The scientific revolution promoted liberalism by inspiring the mechanistic view of the state, seeing social institutions, including the state, as created to fulfill human purposes.