key ideas

• what does liberal mean in the US?

  someone who supports left-wing policies and the Democratic party.
• What does liberal mean in the UK?

  Centrist views
• what are the core beliefs of liberalism?

  individualism, human beings are possessed of rights, natural state of human beings is freedom, equality, freedom of action thought and expression, toleration, limited gov based on consent, free markets, democracy
• what is individualism?


  the core belief that individual freedom should take priority over the collective interest
• what did the political thinker (NOT A LIBERAL THINKER) Jean-Jaques Rousseau say during the enlightenment?

  Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains
• What was the enlightenment?

  when people started to questions things that had been accepted for a long time such as the role of the government
• John Stuart Miller quote


  The only purpose for which power can be rightfully

  exercised over any member of a civilized community,

  against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good,

  either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant...Over

  himself, over his own body and mind, the individual

  is sovereign
• what is classical liberalism?

  they believe in NEGATIVE FREEDOM or freedom from coercion
• What is modern liberalism?

  they believe in POSITIVE FREEDOM or freedom to empower yourself and better your life
• Liberals think people are born what?

  Equal (foundational equality)
• how do the liberals see the justice system?

  a procedural, rules based system that works at adjudicating between disputes and rival claims (that's what a court should do). The legal system is not there to promote any one person's idea of goodness. The legal system is there to deter individuals from violating each other's rights.
• What is meritocracy?


  social position achieved solely based on personal ability and achievement
• what are natural rights?

  Some argue that rights are based in nature.

  Human beings are born with them. Ronald Dworkin argues

  that respect for individual rights in the basis of political

  morality and that rights have the power to override all other

  considerations (even the majority interest cannot be used to

  override one person's rights).
• What are civil rights?

  there are no such thing as natural rights. The British philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, called the idea of natural rights 'nonsense on stilts'. Instead, rights are based in law and arise because individuals participate in a society. Outside of society, there are no rights. A group of thinkers most noted for this views are the logical positivists.
• what did JS Mill say about freedom of thought and discussion?

  If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
• what did Mill believe about the importance of critical discussion?

  open critical discussion was beneficial to everyone. When people are able to speak freely then ideas can be 'tested' in debate and if they are wrong, then they will be disproven