School of Thought

101 Great Liberal Thinkers

Eamonn Butler

• Publisher: London Publishing Partnership
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780255367783
• Edition: 1

School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers profiles the lives and ideas of some of the leading thinkers on individual liberty – from ancient times to the present day. Award-winning author Eamonn Butler outlines key elements of liberal thought and takes a chronological look at those who shaped it across the centuries. He identifies their common goals – but also highlights their differing views on, for example, the extent of government involvement in our daily lives. For anyone interested in politics, government, social institutions, capitalism, rights, liberty and morality, School of Thought – 101 Great Liberal Thinkers provides a clear and concise introduction to a set of radical ideas – and the thinkers behind them.

1. Introduction
   What this book is about
   This book profiles the lives and ideas of some of the leading thinkers on individual liberty, from ancient times up to today.
   These liberals – to use the word in the European (not the American) sense – all see the top priorities of political, social and economic life as being to maximise individual freedom and minimise the use of force. But they vary in their precise views on how to achieve this and how large any government role should be. Some see little or no need for the state. Many argue that some government authority is required, particularly in the provision of defence, policing and justice. Others see an even wider role for government in social or economic life.
   Who this book is for
   This book is primarily for intelligent lay readers who are interested in the public debate on politics, government, social institutions, capitalism, rights, liberty and morality, and who want to understand the pro-freedom side of the debate. It is designed for those who broadly understand the principles of a free society, but want to know more about the ideas, thinkers and schools of thought that have shaped the concept. It aims to provide this knowledge in plain words with no academic-style footnotes, references or glossaries.
   Nevertheless, it also gives school and university students of economics, politics, ethics and philosophy a concise introduction into a set of radical ideas and the thinkers responsible. There is plenty in here to stimulate informed and critical debate on how society is and should be structured.
   How this book is laid out
   After outlining the main elements of liberal thought, the book sketches liberal thinkers in order of their date of birth. This gives the reader some impression of how liberal ideas evolved over time. But the course of liberal thought is not a straight path. Liberalism is not a set doctrine, but a series of ongoing debates. Often there is progress on one issue, which is then parked for decades, until some other thinker puts a new twist on it. In addition, some thinkers have contributed ideas on many different subjects. So, there is no perfect way to list liberalism’s thinkers. But since the aim of this book is to profile the individuals and their contributions, a chronological approach has been chosen.

2. Liberalism and liberal thinkers
   The thinkers in this book are not what most Americans call ‘liberals’. While both groups share the priority of personal freedom, American liberals support far more state intervention in social and economic life in order to achieve it. Such interventions may include wealth or income redistribution, special support and protection for workers and industries, providing a wide range of public goods, regulating markets and seeking to protect people from their own actions.
   Though the liberals listed here feel just as much for the welfare of others, they are wary of such policies. They see them as threats to freedom – giving too much power to authorities and treating citizens like dependent children rather than free adults – and believe that government interventions can (and usually do) have unforeseen, damaging consequences.
   What is a liberal?
   A number of key principles unify liberals in this sense.
   Maximising freedom. Liberals believe that we should try to maximise individual freedom. People should be free to live as they want and where they want, choose their beliefs, be able to speak freely, trade with each other, assemble together, take part in politics, own property, keep what they produce, and live without the threat of arbitrary arrest or detention or harm. They should face only the minimum necessary restraint from other individuals or authorities.
   Priority of the individual. Second, liberals see the individual as more important than the collective. Only individuals have ambitions, purposes and interests. Groups do not: they are merely collections of individuals. When we sacrifice the interests of individuals to what some authority or expert or political leader says is the interest of society, individuals are exposed to the threat of tyranny.
   Toleration. Third, liberals advocate toleration – that we should not restrict people’s actions just because we disapprove of them or disagree with them. Everyone should be free to hold their own opinions, speak their minds and live as they choose, even if others consider those opinions and words and lifestyle immoral or offensive. People should be free to assemble in clubs, unions or political parties, even if others think them subversive crackpots. They should be free to trade goods and services, including ones (such as drugs, gambling and prostitution) that are widely disapproved of. And they should be free to practise whatever religion they want, even if the vast majority disapprove.
   Minimising coercion. Fourth, liberals wish to minimise coercion. They want a world where we get along by peaceful agreement, not one where people use force or the threat of force to subjugate others. They maintain that the judicial authority of the state, its power to tax or fine or imprison or otherwise coerce citizens, must be kept to its essential minimum: for as Lord Acton noted, power tends to corrupt.
   Representative and limited government. Fifth, while some thinkers on the liberal spectrum see no use for government at all, most liberals believe there is an important role for the state. But it is a limited role – to defend individuals against violence and theft, either from other citizens or from abroad, and to dispense justice when theft or violence occurs.
   When choosing those who decide what the exact rules should be and how to enforce them, most liberals advocate representative and constitutional democracy. This, they say, makes it clear that government derives its authority only from the individuals who create it. Government is their servant, not their master. A constitution that specifies how official power may not be used, and free elections in which representatives can be removed from office, are the best means yet found for maintaining this relationship.
   Rule of law. Sixth, liberals insist on the rule of law. Laws should apply equally to everyone, regardless of gender, race, religion, language, family or any other irrelevant characteristics. And they should apply to government officers just as much as to ordinary people. To safeguard this principle, and prevent those in power manipulating the law for their own benefit, there must be basic judicial principles such as equal treatment, habeas corpus, trial by jury, due process and proportionate punishments.
   Spontaneous order. Seventh, liberals argue that human institutions mostly arise spontaneously, rather than through conscious planning. Nobody deliberately invented markets, the price system, money, language, the rules of justice or the common law. They simply grew and evolved out of the countless interactions between individuals, because they were useful.
   Like a footpath that is trodden down as waves of people seek the easiest route across a field, such institutions are the result of human action, but not of human design. They are examples of spontaneous order – structures that are often highly complex, but need no guiding authorities to create and manage them. Indeed, government action is more likely to disrupt them than rationalise them.
   Free markets. Eighth, liberals hold that wealth is created by the mutual cooperation of individuals in the spontaneous order of the marketplace. Prosperity comes through individuals inventing, creating, saving, investing and exchanging things for mutual benefit. Our economic order grows out of simple rules, such as honesty and respect for property.
   Civil society. Ninth, liberals believe that voluntary associations provide people’s social needs better than governments. While they emphasise the priority of individuals, they recognise that individuals are also members of families and of groups such as clubs, associations, unions, religions, schools, online communities, campaigns and charities. These spontaneous institutions of civil society give us greater and far richer opportunities for collaboration than the clumsy institutions deliberately created by centralised governments.
   Doubts ab...

Table of contents

• The thinkers
• About the author
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Liberalism and liberal thinkers
• 3 Ancient liberal thinkers
• 4 Early modern thinkers
• 5 The age of reason
• 6 Revolutionaries and radicals
• 7 The age of reform
• 8 The modern era
• 9 The free economy and society
• 10 Contemporary liberal thinkers
• 11 Conclusion
• 12 101 more liberal quotations
• About the IEA