Liberalism Key Thinkers

• John Locke Human Nature - People are rational, self-interested, and independent
• John Locke The State - Locke rejected the 'divine right to govern'. One would accept the authority of the state if they were guaranteed rights. Locke's social contract was based on rational thinking
• John Locke Society - Society, state and government are based on a voluntary contract. Citizens only obey laws and the state will guarantee them rights
• John Locke The Economy - Believed in private property. If someone put work in to make a thing, that thing belonged to them
• Mary Wollstonecraft Human Nature - Human Nature should be viewed optimistically. Since both men and women can act in a rational way, there should be equal rights for both sexes
• Mary Wollstonecraft The State - 18th Century state measures assumed women weren't rational and so could not enjoy freedom. Women couldn't vote, few owned properties and were not legally independent (i.e. marriage)
• Mary Wollstonecraft Society - To be free and equal, women should enjoy civil liberties rather than being dependent on men. Formal education was vital for this. Marriage had to be a truly equal partnership so women could choose between having a family or a career
• Mary Wollstonecraft The Economy - Women should be able to make their own living through equal rights and treatment
• John Stuart Mill Human Nature - Humans are either self-regarding (affecting themselves) or other regarding (affecting others)
• John Stuart Mill The State - The state should not interfere in self-regarding actions. The state should curb other-regarding actions if they harm the freedom of others
• John Stuart Mill Society - The most widely held opinion within society may not be the best or most correct, and should be tolerant of other views
• John Stuart Mill The Economy - The key to progress is free-market capitalism which can further society
• John Rawls Human Nature - Most people would still expect scope for individual freedom. The gap between the top and the bottom would not improve, although the state would improve conditions for the poor
• John Rawls The State - The state should be an enabling state and should improve the condition of the poor, but inequalities of outcome would remain to reflect individual differences
• John Rawls Society - To create a just society, individuals need formal equality and greater economic and social equality. Humans, being rational, would devise a society which treats the poor better
• John Rawls The Economy - An enabling state to redistribute wealth, increase public spending and adopt progressive taxation
• Betty Friedan Human Nature - Both men and women are equally rational, and irrational assumptions had disadvantaged women's rights and opportunities
• Betty Friedan The State - Legislation should criminalise discrimination. This will prevent women from having their freedom harmed by others. Legal change is the only realistic way to make progress
• Betty Friedan Society - Conditioning emphasises unfulfilling domestic roles rather than careers for women. More extensive opportunities and a shift in social attitudes is needed
• Betty Friedan The Economy - Formal equality allows women to make their own living and gender bias is eradicated
• Two Treatises of Government (1689) - John Locke
• A Vindication on the Rights of Women (1792) - Mary Wollstonecraft
• On Liberty (1859) - John Stuart Mill
• The Feminine Mystique (1963) - Betty Friedan