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UNIT 15 CLASSICAL LIBERALISM
)n

or Structure :J

ne
nd
ler
15.1 Introduction
15.2 What is Liberalism?
153 Characteristics ofLiberalism
15.4 Rise of Liberalism
i
I

an 15.5 Ideology of Classical Liberalism - Views on Man, Society, Economy and State
he 15.6 Critical Evaluation
mt
15.7 Summary
on
se, 15.8 Exercises
1er
; it 15.1 INTRODUCTION
the
Liberalism is the dominant ideology of the present-day Western world. The history of England,
Western Europe and America for the last 300 years is closely associated with the evolution
ics. and development of liberal thought. Liberalism was the product of the climate of opinion that
1ew emerged at the time of the Renais-sance and Reformation in Europe. As an ideology and a way
ach oflife, 'it reflected the economic, social and political aspirations of the rising middle class
nee which later on became the capitalist class'. In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries,
>ra- when the feudal system was. cracking up, a new political system w~ taking its place. The
. go establishment of the absolute nation-states in England and Europe gave birth to a kind of
the· political system in which the authority of the king was absolute. The beginning ofliberalism
was a protest against the hicrai:chjcal and privileged authority and monarchy- a protest which
involved every aspect of life. The main slogan of the protest w~om - freedom from
every authority which is capable of acting capriciously and arbitrarily along with freedom of
the individual to develop all of his potentialities as a human being endowed with reason. To
achieve the liberty of the individ:.ial and to challenge the authority of the state, liberalism
demanded liberty in every field of life: in~ual, social, religious, cultural, political and
~conoroic etc. The central problem with which these liberties were concerned is the relationship
l?e~een the individual and the state. The negative or the classical aspect ofliberalism remain.-:d
dominant for a very long ti.me. The initial aim of liberalism was more destructive than
constructive; its purpose was not to elucidate positive aims of civilization, but to remove
hindrances in the path of the d.evelopment of the individual. Till the later half of the 19th
century, it was a progressive ideology fighting against cruelty, superstitions, intolerance and
arbitrary governments. It fought for the rights of man and.of nations. During the last hundred
years, it had to face the challenges of other ideologies and political movements such as
democra~y. marxism, socialism and~- It absorbed democracy and socialism to a great
extent m the rulineofthc wetfare state, fought fascism tooth and nail but could not overcome
marxism. In ·the mid-twentieth century, in the face of mapcism, it became an ideology of
status quo, defensive and conservative, even counter .revolutionary, out of touchwith and
·usually hostile to the radical and revolutionary movements ofthe day. However, with the fall
of the socialist regimes in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and the withering
away of socialist ideology, classical liberalism (in its new avatar of libertarianism) is once
again becoming the dominant ideology ofthe contemporary world. .

Jj
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I

15.2 WHAT IS LIBERALISM?

Liberalism is too dynami c and flexible a concept to _be cont~ined in a pr~c ise definition. Right
from its inception, it has been continuously changing, adding something and discarding the
other. As Al blaster writes, 'liberalism should be seen not as a fixed and absolute term as a
coiiection of unchanging moral and political val~es but as a specific historical movem;nt of
ideas in the mode~ era that ~gan with Renaissance and Reformation. It has undergone rnany
changes and requires a historical rather than a static type of analysis.' Similarly, Laski writes,
'it (Liberalism) is not easy to.describe, much less to define, for it is hardly less a habit of mi~
than a body of doctrine' . To quote Hacker, 'Liberalism has be come so common term in thea
a
vocabulary of politics that it is brave man who will try to give it a precise definition. It is a
view of the individual, of the state, and of the relations between them' . Almost the same view
is expressed by Grimes, 'liberalism is not a static.creed or dogma, for dogmatism provides its
own restraints.Iris rather a tentative attitude towards social problems which stresses the role
of reason and human ingenuity ... liberalism looks ahead with a flexible approach, seeking to
make future better for more people, as conservatism looks back, aiming mainly to preserve
the attainment of the past.' Aithough the liberal ideas are about 300 years old, the _word
'liberalism' did not come into use till the beginning of the nineteenth century• Accord mg to
Richard We\lheim,·1 1iberalism is the beliefin the value ofliberty of the individual'. According
to Sartori, 'very simply, liberalism is the theory and practice of in_gjyidual.lli2erty, ju~I,
_...defen~e and the £Q.11Stitutional sf!te'. Bullock and Shock emphasize the belief in freedom and
conscience as the twin foundations of liberalism. Grime writes, 'It represents a system of
ideas that aim at the realization of the pluralist society, favouring diversity of politics,
economics, religion and other cultural life. It seeks in its simplest sense to advance the freedom
of man ... it seeks to increase individuality of mari by increasing his area ofchoice and decision.'
Similarly, Laski writes, 'liberalism implies a passion for liberty; and that the passion may be
compe!ling. It requires a power to be tolerant; even sceptical about opinion and tendencies
you hold to be dangerous which is one of the rarest human qu3lities'. Hallowell defines
liberalism as 'the embodiment of the demand for freedom in every sphere oflife - intellectual,
social, religious, political and economic'. Schapiro talks of liberalism as an attitude of life - ·
sceptical, experimental, rational and free. According to Koerner, 'liberalism begins and ends ',
with the ideals of individual freedom, individual human rights ar.d individual human happiness. ,
These remain central to the creed whatever may be the economic and political arrangements ;,
ofliberal democracy society'. According to Heater, 'liberty is the quinlesse11c~ ofliberalism. • -
For the liberal, it is the individual who counts, not society at large or segme!lt of it, for only by ,
placing priority on the rights of the individual can freedom be ensured' .
'
Andrew Hacker in his book Political Theory has distinguished four types ofliberalism: namely,
utopi:m liberalism, free market Hl>eralisin, democratic liberalism, and refonnist liberalism. ·
--Ontfie whole, according to· him; liberalism stands for i) free life as the prime pursuit of
politics, ii) state's task is to eschew coercion and to encournge the conditions for this free life. -
Simi~arly, Barbara Goodwin·in her book Vsing Political Ideas, lists the following ingredients .
of liberalism: i) man is free, rational, self- improving and autonomous, ii) government is •
based on consent arid contract, iii) ~onstitutionalism and the rule oflaw, iv) freedom as choice
which includes the_rightto.choose government from among different representatives, v) equality of
opportunity, vi) social justice based upon merit, and vii) tolerance.

In short, liberalism has a narrow and a broad perspective. At a narrow level, it is seen from .
political and eccmomic point~ of view, whereas at the broader level, it is like. a mental attitude l;

•k
14
that auempts in the li ght or its prc•u · .. . · • · I
. . . 0 00 • Pros 111ons lo ana lyse antl 111tcgratc the va ried intellecrua ,
morn I'. rehgmos, "'"'• _ oomk '"' politic, I "'" ioo,hi psor homa, bciog, AI tho soci, I
l<>d, " Sl,od, fm_ "''" 1,n •m, rre odom i, "I" Ii,, '" " Ii gi oo aod""'"Ii, y. I, 1,y, " " " th, ;1
"''.o off= '"'.''"d">I ""'"°"' _o rhi, ""'"', fo, , e1r-c,p,rnioo,od oofetkreddo>cl<>pmc,1

i
00
orh,. P'~ooal,iy, Al !ho '""°m" bol, ii implies the idc,I or free lrndo coo plod with io1<rn,1
freedom of Produc."°"· Al ~ho P<>lilic,J Jo,,1, ii ,1a,d, fo, politio,J liberty ..i tho right lo
'""""'• """''"''°"''
anti-authoritarianism.
hmo1oa "'"•Om,oi, '"' "'''" or tho eight, of tho iodi,ido,J '""

15.3
CHARACTERISTICS OF LIBERALISM

From tho •bo,e di,cossioo, it i, o0w cloa, th,t Jiborali,m ;, "°'

merely , polilial ""'OJ>l.
bot
also a socio-economic, cultural and ethical concept. It can be understood through certain
ch,racre,istios 0>ol><d
characteristics of dqriog
classical its ~og hiS!o,y. Joh, Hallowoll ha, piopoiotod tho followiog
liberalism:

i) a belief in the abSolute v~lue of human personality and spiritual eguality of the individual;
ii) a belief in the autonomy of the individual will;
------..;'-------
iii) a belief in the esscntial~ionality and~ess of man;_ 1
iv) aliberty
beliefand
in property:
certain inalienablcrights o~ the individual, particularly, the rights of life,
-------.:...._:

v) th11t state comes into existence by mutual consent for the purpose of protection of rights;
vi) that the rcl@tionship between the state and t~e individual is a contractual one;
vii)
...:_
that socia! control can best be secured by' law
-
{ather than commar.d; -
viii) individual
religious; freedom in all spheres of life - pol!!isal, ec·onomic. social, ir.tellectual and
'------"--
ix) the government that governs the least is the best;

x) a belief that truth is accessible to man's natural reason.

15.4 RISE OF LIBERALISM

Liberalism as a whole Was a massive movement that made itself left in all the co~ntries of
Western Europe arid in America, but its most characteristic development took place in England.
ltwas also strong in HoJ!!nd and Sgain. In Germany, the liberal philosophy remained forthe
most part academic. In France, liberalism far more than in England, tended to be the social
philosophy of a class, rather aristocratic in its attitude towards the masses, and mainly critical
in function since it could hardly aspire to carry through a national policy. Political liberalism
here arose as ~ n n y , but the working class movement w _. hich was radical
and socialist in its outlook and whicfi also incorporated the marxist throug!)t of class struggle
was a great hindrance to the liberal doctrine taking deep roots in France. Only iri England,
which throughout the nineteenth century was the most highly industrialized country in the

ls
 ;~ , d;d HbmHsm ach;m tbe ""'"° 'i .~"" nf a nm;ona_l ohUosopby aod 0<1;0,~, : ,
provided the principles for an orde rl y and peace,ul trans1t1 on, first to compl ete fre edom fo, ,;,o .,,, •
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~ustry an~ the enfr~nch ise ment of '.he middle class and ult_imateiy, to the ,r--~
of the working class and their protection against the most senous hazards of industry. For the :\ c:1
proper study of liberal ism, it is c;ustomary to divide it into two periods known as 'classical or ~- c
ne~tive liberalism' and 'welfare or positive liberalism' . !n this u:::~. we shall study c! ...>.>ka\ ~ ",
liberalism. I he division is necessary because m its m1tial stage, liberalism presen~ed itself as #
a philosophy of the r~ing middle class, but in its later stage, it developed into a philosophy of
a national community whose ideal was to protect and conserve the interests of all classes.
Classical liberalism was the product of the r~volutionary era. It championed the cause of the
~ly emerging bourgeoisie against absolute monarchical and feudal aristocracy. It was highly
individualistic. Individual and social interests were seen as contradictory. On the other hand,
the distinctive feature of welfare liberalism was a recognition of the reality and the value of
social and community interests (along with individual interests). Its attempt was not only to
conserve ~litical and civil liberties which individualism of the early era had embodied, but
also to adapt them to the progressive changes brought about by industrialism and nationalism.
N ow, let us have a look at classical liberalism. ·

~ - 5 IDEOLOGY OF CLASSICAL LIBERALISM - VIEWS ABOUT

::::------ MAN, SOCIETY, ECONOMY AND STATE .
Classical liberalism i~ called by different names like ~egative liberalism~ividuallsticj~
liberalisn/ Zaissezfaire liberalfu}i, free market liberalism, integral liberalism, original liberalism
etc. The modem period began with the 16th century. During this period, against the ~-ocio-.
economic, political and cultural system ofttie medieval period, Renaissance and Refonnation
movements em_erged, scientific and technological advances took place, a new economic class
-which was later ca:led the t;apitalist class-came into being; in the political sphere, instead
of feudal states, new n~tion-state emerged, and changes were seen in all the spheres of social
system. In such an atmosphere, a new philosophy - that of classical liberalism - emerged .
""'1ich found expression in the writings of various j)inkers. Prominent among whom were
Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Adam Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Bentham, James Mill, J.S.
Mill, Herbert Spencer, William Senior anJ Thomas Paine.

The socia_l structure of the middle ages was based on the hereditary principle of feudalism.
The particular feature of which was that e~rybody b4d a master above him: the peasant had '•
die. landlord, the landlord had tJ-ie feudal lord, the feudal lord had the king, the king had the Pope, :·
and the Pope had Christ above him . The Reformation Move . e
church. The revival of commerce and the reatio;i of new forms of wealth be an to challen e
t¥ascendancy of,th_e nobility and the demand· fo~ s.,olitical and social reforms_that would •
improve their status and their business, freedom from restric.tions such - a s the medieval notion
ofjust j,ri.ce, from the condemriatiori of le~ding and borrowing money .at interest, and from
· fiaXeS that constituted barriers to free trade. The rise and growth of towns and of a new social
revival of literature and_art, birth of modern science and philosophv and the _ri~e of large :.
centralized states. created a new epoch. The medieval ages were based on the privileges of a ,
h in :which individual liberty, rights, equality etc were totally abswt. The birth of the modem ;
• paiod starts with the protest ag~inst this absolute an~ rivile ed authori!)', a kin~ ~f protest
which was prevalent in all spheres of 1fe and wluch challenged all the restrictions and
anphasized the autonomy of the individual, his liberty and~rationality. The protest expressed

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, itself m the form of s_eculansm against religious fundamentalism, free market capitalism in , ( t t I... L Lei
f~
~-~e- ~el~?:o~-e~cono':~s,_a ~ vemment base_d upon consent in the fie ld of R.Qlitics, and . a...d
:: md1V1dUa11;,,11 and hu,11anlS1
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oc1olo .
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:·Liberalism is associated with. those progressive ideas which accompanied the gradual
~breakdown of traditional social hierarchies. Historically, it Y1as a modernizing force . It was
;: :pposed to what was tra.ditional and feudal and friendly to the new emerging social order of
-:~u~:oi~ soc_iety. ~q!!l in opposition t? the world ~omina~ed by ~on_ar_chy. aristocracy .a~d _ r> l . "--U-.-~
::½hr1st1amty, l~beraltsm op~sed the arb1t~ry power of the kings and pnv1leges of the nob,11!}' [ •
'; based upon birth. It questioned the whole tradition of a society in which man had a fixed e. ~ I A ,
fstation in eye. By contrast, it favoured ~n pen meritocrac where every energetic individual l
;_could rise to respectability and success.\Li eralism believed in a contractual and competitive
~*ie and a free market eco~9mic order~ It favoured free thinking, rationalism and speculative
) node of thoug~t. It believe<( in change, dynamism, growth, mobility, accumulation..and
:. competition Classical liberal.ism ~mphasized the auionomous individual. The idea that man is
·· a masterless man was an entir~l)'l novel conception. It considered man as selfish, egoistic,
"""alienated but at the same time ratio~al. It had faith in the absolute~alue and w~rth and spiritual
_:: equality ofindiv1duals. It believed that individuality can be incre¥ed by increasing the choice
' of man and towards this end, external restraint should be minimal. It maintained that the
. individual is the basis of all socio-economic and political systems. Man was considered as the
: measure of everytning. It believed that man was endowed with certain inali_enable natural
, rights based upon the law of nature; prominent among these were the rights to life, liberty and
( property _..,.the rights which were not depe.ndent u·pon the mercy of the state or society, but
were inherent in the personality of the i~dividual.

At the core of classical liberalism was the iberty of the individu - liberty from every fonn
of au!}lority which acts arbitrarily and capriciously, and liberty 1ri all ~j,heres of human life.
Bµt what is impo~ant to note is that liberty here was viewed as a negative thing i.e. liberty as
absenc~ qf restraints. Only the individual knows what is best for him. For the development of
his personali , he requires c~rtain freedoms from arbitra authorities which act a ainst his
·. . will. It was liberty... both from the
. ocietv and from the state. It was 'Jiberty from' and not lI
: 'liberty to'. Hobbes descri!:>es it as the 'silence of laws'. Berlin defines it as 'absenr,e of
coercion'. Milton Friedman terms it as 'absence of coercion of man by state, soci~ty or his
f~en'.Flcw defines it as absence of'~ocial and legal constraints'. According to Nozic,
. it is a natural right to 'self-9wnership'. Again, absence ofrestraintc; had very wide meaning.
R~<:traints could be political, economic, civil, personal etc. The u se ·w was not to take
away liberty, but to regulate it. aw and I erty were ccns1 ered anti-thetica

Since the individuai was taken as a unit and the sin le huma s a natural u:1it, classical
,. liberalism viewe society not as a natural, but an -artificial institutiQ . It was seen as being
• apd inferests peculiar to themselves.
composed of atom flke autonomous individuajs with wills
to
Society was an artificial institution meant serve certain interests of the individuals. It wa~
>an aggregate of individuals, a collection, a ~rowd where each was pursuing his 0~11 s~!f
,~· i~st. Hobbes compared society with a sack ofcom:Toey are associate,~ separatccBentham
__ also viewed society as a ficti~ious body, with no interest of its own, apart from the interests of
· members composing it. It was considered a creation ofth~ individual will based upon contract
and a means to enrich '_individt1~l ends'. Macpherson has tetm~d this view of society as a
market society', a meeting place of self-interested individuaJs, a society pased° upon free will,
competition and contract. A good society was that wh~h ~aranteed th~ liqerty of the i11divid~~J
. . ......: . ... ·-- ~.
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\\;1s a 11 cc or open soc 1i; 1y.
I he ~s_o no;nic 1i1e~r of ~lriss ical liberali sm ·ounJ expression in :i nt,1 ·'., cience o~political
-econorn_.,.~ . Origmate
·--,- d •in F,r,ance- by a group of thinkers ' who. were, know
. n as· · Phys1ocrats,
I I' · it
found classical expression 111 Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations . L1~e polit1ca _1beral1sm,
lhc new science of economics reflected the aspirations and the way of Irfc of the merchant and
1h"e rnanufacturmg rn1ddl_c class. In essence, it advocated economic freedom, esp~cia_lly freedom
from government regulations fostered by mercantilist theory. P_!.iysiocracy which_ means~
of nature' was described as 'the science·of)the natural aakr' . The phys1ocra1s believed that all
~relations into which~~ enter 'far from being haphazard are admirabfy regulated and
controlled ... they are the self-evident laws .. .they are the ruies ofjustice, of morality, of conduct,
useful to all and to each. Neither men nor government make them nor can make them. They
1

recognize them as conforming 10 the Supreme Reason which govern this Universe ... these
laws are irrevocable. They pertain to the essence of men and things, they are the expression of
the will of God. By discerning its laws and living in accordance with them. one achieves the
happiness ordained for him by God. Secondly, the physiocrats argued that liberty is inseparable
from property and the preservation of property is the primary duty of the state. 'The social
laws established by the supreme being prescribe only the preservatit>n of the right to
property and that of liberty which is inseparable from it' . The function of the government is
simply to secure the indjvidual 's nat~ral ri ht to liberty and property. The government should
refrain from any interference with the economy, smce such mte erence could not only'be
arbitrary. but also an unnecessary interference in the laws of nat~ral order. ~aissez faire,:_ i
laiss~z al/er. le mum/ rn du lui-meme w~ the 5logar. (let things be alone because the world is •
self-regulating). -

lnis new sdence of political economy conceived by physiocrats culminated in the classical
economic liberalism of Adam Smith and was supplemented oy Ricardo. tv1althus. James Mill
ar.d others . The physiocrats believed that if individuals we~t al~o folTow their
enlightenc:d self-interest. economic pro:;perity would result. Like wise, Ad:iin S~ith believed
!.h:it ·natural economic institutions were not merely good. they were providential. Divine
providence has endowed man with a desire to better his own condition ... so that man following ;:
where this desire leads is really accomplishing the beneficent designs of God Himself . Smith f,
discovered that self-interest and benevolence were in a pre-established and harmonio'us accord. h
By seeking one's own interest, one promotes by some m 'Sterious rocess the we Ifore of all.
There ~s no cunt ict between the individua self-interest and s9.cj_al_~elfan.: 'Every man as
long as he does not violate the laws of justice. ought to be lefrperfectly frtc to pursut: his own
inkrests in his own way and to bring 60th his indus!ry and capital into i:ompetition with those
,1
.of any other man o~ order of men' . Accordingly, Smith restricted the activities of the state to
the bare minimum such as security of life, limb and property of the individual and some
public works.

The individuai right to private propert;1vas central to the economic thcorx of classical liberalism
1.c. the right to freely own or dispose of, to buy or sell; to hire labour and make profit. Free
iI
trade. free contracL competition. free economy, free market and market society. natural right
to private_property we1~e hallmarks of this theory. It was based on the assumption that
economics and politics are mutually independent or are only indirectly related through
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- ----~----.
d' 'd I h I
'.~-n _1v1 ua dpsylcf _o ogy.e iev~ t at if_ the individual is left .ilonc to follow his own
te,nhghtene se -interest, economic prosperity would result -- --- - -
.
~the R5:rfect institution for the exchange of goods and services was the m k t Th k
.- •::-::r::r:- - ar e . e mar et
'Jfectly embod1eu tne new economic individual ism. Market re lat ions abolished ·the t d'..: I
- · fr d , · d• , ra i.,ona
l1stramts on e_e om to raise an, mvest capital, to fun~ loan and earn interest, sell property
_,d-~p_profit, hire and fire labour . The state was not suited to the ma_nagem~nt of economic
_ irs. As Adam Smith wrote 'no two characters seem more inconsistent than those oft,;der
· ~vereign'. Similar!~, Bentham _also believed in the self-regulating uncontrolled economy
'Which the state had v1rtuall~ no role to.play. In the ~~me ?f ~tilitarianism, he deryfanded
trade, freedom of occupation, unrestricted compehtron, mv1ohb!e private pa>perty and
·erindividualist reforms. Thus, in the economic sphere, liberalism gave the pure economic
":· ry of capitalist advance and the theory served well the econo[Tlic interests eftbe bourgeoisie.
· Laski writes, 'the whole ethos of capitalism, in a word, is its effort to free the owner of the
truments of production from the need to' obey rules which inhibit his full exploitation of
, m. The rise of liberalism is the rise of a doctrine which seeks to justify the operation of that
·Utos' .

:At the political level, liberalism sought to erect a theory of state based upon the subjective
~Jaims of the inaividual rather .than u n ob·ect,ve real it . The only basis of civil society
_which early classical liberalism could conceive WIJS contract or an agreement between the
:sildividual and the state The contract theory had three inter-re lated elements: i) the state is no~
l:l_e.reated by God, but is the creation of man, ii) it is not~ natural institution , but an artificial
IJ.~titution and iii) fhe basis of the state and political o_bligation is the consent of the individu~lt
!! Classical liberalism did not regard the state as a natural, necessity arising out of man's needs
f and social nature with a purpose transcending the subjective wnls of the individual. but as an
artificial institution based upon the ~goistic nature of man. T-he state comes into existence b·
~,mutual consent for the sole purpose of preservin° and rotecting the ri' ·-• , -fthe individual
~a~d the relationship between the state and the in~ividual is a contractuaf~one. When the terms
g~ ofthe contract are violated, individuals not only have the right, but also the responsibility to
t· revolt and establish a new government. Through the notion of consent, liberalism tried to
f.• safeguard the rights ~d.liberties of the people and check the arbitrariness of the rulers. ~nsf!nt _
l was also made a precondition o(tbe state, because !ibcralism believed that the authority of the·
[ state was a restraint upon indivi~ual freedo.; and it should be checked as far as possible.
t .
~lnspite of being the creation of man, classical liberalism saw the state in purely negative
as
h erms. It wasJ_ermed a necessary evil. It was necessary because only it could provide law,
l~ ~rder, security. of life and property, but it was an evil also because it was an ~nelliy othuman
[:liberty. Smee liberalism considered the rights and liberties of the individual as sacred, any
~~ s e in the functions a[the_stat0 was ~een as~ decr~ase i~1 the li~rt)' o~the indivjduBL
~~Hence, the state was seen as havmg a negative funct10n; to pr-GV-lde security of life and property
t:and leave ttie individual free to pursue his goM in his own way. The philosophy of the state as
~a nec~ssary evil and·the self- regulating ~conomy left~ very limited role f~r the _governmen_t.
F he liberal slogan was 'that government 1s the best which governs tbs: leasJ . To 11lu~trate this
fpoint further, Adam Smith restricted the functions of the state to: i) ' protect the society from
~violence and invasion, ii) protect every member of society from injustice and opp~ssio·n of
fevery other member and iii) to erect and maintain certain public works and certain public
' institutions. in which the individual may not be interested because it would be unprofitabl~~;
Similarly. William Senror·wrote 'th; essential business of government is to afford defence{!~ ·
• . :t~:-·
·:-•;'~ ~-
.19:
·--1
 . ·ind domestic vi
· ·olence an d
fraud'. Bentham reduc
. . ~hom
1
. .
,
ec1
as Paine said 'wh·i1 ,
.
pro tect the community against foreign 'J r ,oo doni. Another writei . b t necess .e
• ·1y 1J 11 Ii "" . ttets u a aryev,1•
th e task of the government to nt even in its be 5 l s I d d th iftnt t ·
50c1e1• .m an ate is a blessing, • governrne
. f 5 vival of the fi1ttes_t a_nd p ea e a e state
Herbert Spencer advocated t he doctrine .
o ~
·onomic sphere. ,
• - - • the socio- ec .
should have a minimum role -~ -- - -- - - - Th H bbe b
d to the political thought of ornas- o s, ut
As a political theory, liberalism can be trace . f J h Locke. Locke declared that no one can
was foun d ·tn th e thought o hn t his-own consent. For h'1m, r.,ree dom
O
its1 clear expression
·
: . • • 11 er of another wit ou . . . . .
be subjected to the pol1t1ca pow t e·re deemed as restnct,ve mst1tut1ons.
. . St t and governmen w - .
meant freedom fr9m the stat~. a e . of life liberty and property- for the protection .
Locke propounded a theory of n~tu,ral rights . d . 'ht as prior to the state. The basis of the
of which the state comes into being. He conceive ng st 'd of Government is the result of
state 1s • a· contract which ·· the· ru Ier or .the
. ruled can ge· . rt artificial
·
institution created ·for
individual will, civil societ)' js sovereign and th_e Slatfe his, a~ hts oflife liberty and property.
· ·· · .. --- •· -· ·ty rotect1on o t e ng '
certain specific ends like ord~r, secun • P . establishment of law and order,
State was given a very limited sphere of action, name1y, Am • n and French revolutions
suppression of violence, protection ofrights and property: T1l,e .d er;ca Like Locke Thomas
1 0
of the eighteenth centu were largely influenced by liberal : og~ d the.politi~al liberty
Pame a so denied that the state has unlimited a solute power an ~sse e fth h
ofthecommuni a . d' 'd
defenceqfthF m 1v1 ua again I . st the possible ~nny
•J'-· o e monarc
. ..
· · :.::::::.::.:.~"-t ,
S1m1larly Montes uie ndeavoured'to do for France w a _ h t Locke had done for England m
· · -1-,--~-..._-
t~e seventeenth ·
century as a liberal; - concern was 1'nclividual
· first
his . . freedom
. and he
endeavoured to discover checks on "political authority by means of whi_ch tt might be secu~d.
To_this end, he developed a· theory of the see:3ration of powers which had a far reac_~mg
influence.

The nineteenth century produced a group of writers calle hi losophical radicals ike Bentham,
fames Mill and J.S. Mill. The doctrine they propounded is known as 'Utilitarianism' which
dominated liberal thought for more than half a century. Utilitarianism provided a new theoretic~
foundation to liberalism. It was based upon the theory ofhedonism. It means that all men seek
pleasure and avoid pain. Pleasure is the only thing desirable in and for itself. Wealth, position,
power, health and even virtue itself is desired merely as a means to the ultimate e!1d of pleasure.
W~at gives pleasure is utility and is desirable and what gives pain does not have utility and is
avoided~ In fits opening paragraph cf his Introduciion to the Princivles of Morels and
Legislation, Bentham wrote. 'Nature has placed mankind unde{the govem~nce of two sovereign
;~If
:'' ; ::

, fl
masters. pair. and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do as w,!l as to
determine.what we shall do'."However, ill happiness being impossible, man m_ust _seek the ']
~, iii greates! haP1_)iness in terms of quantity. SiJ1?ilarly, the greatest happiness of all ilie, people
: .[J;~· being impos_sible, we must seek the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Bentham applied j
, it /) _· ; ; the principle an~ m~thods of utility to the s_pheres of law, ~cs and the state. •"
·I ~ - i
:, .:/it For Bentham. state is an instrument devised bv man to satisfy his desires and reflects his wi :
.. !iff r ¼. 'u l?iF sole justification for it is that it provides pea~ce, order, security and helps t em to sat,s y :l.i•

. ·. ;i~ these desjr.es. It is a means to promote happiness of the individual. Util_ity in the context of the
· ;;{; le state is expressed through law. it is la~ which unites people together and puts them on the
(· ',~
f; tUf~,: l£)>\? MO t.-:7;:~~~::~.~::.:~~:i~;od~::::h::,::~:~ ~~::i~~:: d ~:/::~~-"i;':0~~'.~~ l 0

r .. .considered the state as a law makmg body because 1t _!! only through law that the state rewards j
~ff
J
,:. J;n (A\..ltj or punishes so as to ill§rease happiness and decrease pain. lThe _purpose of law IS to r e ~- 1

(\J r~ \J .,
i.
&Jii( 20 •
,~,/1
[a..w
r... I -
u '-" w.o
i
i!
 /) · vt /
[i~ (,(U, I..{)._ • ._,.___ _ lH

.
the motive of self- intert: sl Mer•
" -ILt •, ( · 1 JI al ,
111- 1-r · ·
. · 0 a I ty 1s not suf1ic 1ent and unless law comes into operatJO n,

~
h
ba d tnm1.1s --cannot
c:
be out· of -pLac,.
[h;;---- a
- "'· - t:11UJa1n
,h be11eve
· · d ·in the command theory of law and
regard_ed it as _of ~h_e_ i}e sove reign is the so urce of law. All :nen are
~qu~I in the eyes of law and all ~ave equa1 rights as regards the promotion of happiness. But
_- msp1te of the fact that the H~te 1s an i~ment to promote happines~ of the individual, tlie
:· character of the state, according to Bentham, remains negative. Believing that men are moved
:. by their sel~ interest an,d e~erybod~ is the best judge oflrirylea.)~ e or pai-n, Benth~;7, ::,une to
. the conclus1on that the main ftmctlori of the statct_was to remove all the institutional restrictions
-. on the free action of the individual. .. the purpose _of the state 1s not .to t'oster and promote but
i '.only to restrain them from indulging in ·activities which affect the general happiness by
, 'punispiog the~. To increase the national wealth, me.ans.of subsistence and enjoyment, the
i general rule is that to achieve the greatest happiness ·of the greatest nu'mber, 'nothing should
: 'be done or attempted by the govemment'1 Bentham reduced the functions of the state only to
· ·security and freedom . In other words, to promote the happiness of the individual, the state.is
_·_.a negative institution; simultaneously, along,,with conceiving the stafe, as an instrument of
:, promoting security and freedom' . Bentham fore-saw the need and ~pi,rations ofthe modern
, democratic state. He preferred the d.emocratic form of government because a repre:sentati v.e
democracy was more Iikely to secure the greatest happiness of ~he greatest number by.adopting
constitutional devices like suffrage, annual parliaments, vote by ballot, election of prime
· minister by the parliament and the appointment of civil servants through competitive
examinations. Also, he favoured the unicamerai legislature, vote by secret ballor, recall of
. public officials, civil and criminal code and prison reform,s. These contributions wc::nt a long
, way in the development of the liberal perspective of the state.

The tradition of cl~ssical liberalism was further extended by Benth.am's pupil J.S. Mill. Mill ' s
essay On Li~erty (1859) which has long been held to be the finest and 'the most moving essay
on liberty is a powerful and an eloquent plea for li~erty of thought, liberty of exprssion and
.liberty of action not merely against the interference bf the state, but also against the pressure
of society, public opinion and conventions in the affairs of the individual. The liberty he
• I
sought_to dt:fend was the liberty of the in9ividual to develop, enrich and expand his personafity.
As such 1t 1s not surprising that he pl~ads that the individual should be left free t6 realize his
own interest the WJJ.Y he likes, provided he does not interfere with the similar freedom of
in
others.He defin~s liberty as 'pursuing our own good our own way so long as we do not
c attempt to deprive others of their or impede their efforts to ?btain it'. So defined liberty is a
means to an end, the end being one's own good. He forther writes 'the oniy part of the conduct
of any one for which ·he is amenaole to society 1s that which co~cerns others. In the part which
merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his body
and m.ind, the. in"dividual"is sovereign ... tne only purpose ·ror which power can be rightfully
exercised, over any member of the civilized comrounity against his will is to prevent harm to
-others'.
t""'
Mill divided the activities of the individual into two parts: self-re arding and oth~r-regarding.
·The self-regarding action may include those maners which affect the individual 1mse , .aving
no concern with others. While the individual was to be free in doing those things which
affected h ~ his independence wauestricted in those case& whlclrnad a bearing on
~hera.. Society has no right to use force or compulsion in regard to matters which affect the
individual alone and have no concern ~ith others. In the ~elf-regarding functions, Mill included
(i) the inward domain of consciousness demanding liberty of conscience in the most
0

comprehensive se.nse, liberty of thought and feeling; abs9lute freedo m of opinion and sentiment
_,,-:(~~:-
. _:.~I>': .
 II :,U
. D
· JLLts p1,1ct1 L·,11 ur \pt:u 1ia, t1 v1.:, ,,,.,c
, . .111 11w. 11101::i l l' r I I1eu
. lo11" 1cal. (11 i l1 b..: 11y.ul l:t \ k~ cJn,,"
1, .
l · ' .i • . f doi ,,o th 1ngc; wi1ho
- · ,. · . . ·c, l o ur ov, 11 cbarac:l l! r, CJ '=- ' lit
pur su ib, 01 lr,:1n1n g a plan ut our lti l'. to sui ., h·ir m ntiic r\, (1 1iJ i1be nv -
1· , · . loll" ns t1,ey uo no 1 , . 01
mpcJ 1111 e1115 l1u, 11 (1t'1 i: r kll ow cn:aturt ~ so c:- ' • olvi ng hnrm tooth
- b'111at1011
com · win ong indi vid uals; freedom • to u111·1.t: ,ur any . purpose not __ in_v__ ' ers.

On tht: whole Mill' s aroument

0 rt:sted upon a ~ ~ t · ,
e t- of- freedom.
-d.He
1 objected to
·d · •
SL1Cial control over what he regarded as the selt -regarding ac I I
• ' - ·• t v ties ot the in 1v1
'blual because
.
he regarded all restraints ·as evil. Accord ·mg to h'tm. the' 1·~ d'IVJ·dual is not respons1
- - h.e to society
t. h. ·
.or 1s .ct1on. in so far as they concern the 111te,es
· .. ts of no person other than 1mself. He .
be I1eved
. · that social progress depended upon g1v111g
· ' to eac h ·in d'vidual
1 the fullest opportunity
.
"ior the tree
- de velopme nt of Im · persona r1ty. He was convm · ced. that. ·human . .personality can
develop and ·expand only in an atmosphere of freedom. From it, _11 ~e~essa~ily follows that
freedom consists in the absence of restraints. the best thing for the individual is that he should
be left to pursue his good in his own way. A_lthough the artificial division between self-
regarding and other-regaroing runctlons of the individual was not acc~pted by the latt~r
generation of liberal writers like Green, Hobhouse. Lindsay. Laski etc, the importance ofM1ll
lies in his emphasis on the fact that social and political progress depended largely on the
pokntialities of the individual and his free choice. Mill was fully convinced that any increase
in the power of the state - irrespective of its fom1 - was anti-thetical to the liberty of the
individual and the most valuable clement in human life was spontaneous choice, anything
which is done by a compulsory power diminishes the scope of that choice ·and this infringes
upon liberty. Similarly, his plea for freedom of speech. thought and ,:xpression became
fundamentai tenets of liberal philosophy.

We can conclude this discussion on classical liberalism by the views of L.T. Hobouse . In his
book liberalism, l-lobhouse pointed out certain basic principles of liberalism . According to
him, these principles were ernlved as a consequence of the struggle of the rising middle class
:igainst feudalism. aristocrats and dergymen. In short. these principles were:~ fersonal libertx_:/
the essence of liberalism lies in individual liberty. This doctrine covl?rcd several rights and
duties of the individual. It has to secure freedom o f ? ~ w r i t i n g, freedom of
thought and faith . The American Declaration of Independence, the English Bill of Rights and
the Habe~ Corpus Act. the petition of rights were all meant to secure these freedoms. Personal
liberty also meant that there should · · · n;nation on grounds of caste, colour, creed,
sex. race and economic position. if C,lvil liberty according to this principle, the government
must be conducted l'Klt by the arbitrary will 0t~y one indivil!ual or class h111 by law. This was
m:cessary to counteract the evil of oppression of the kings or feudal lords and churchmen.
Milton's libertarian doi:trine declared that all human beings are by natt,re born free and endowed
with reason and the right to work out their own destiny and that the rulers must exercise their
authority under the restraints oflaw. Similar was the declaration of Jefferson that 'all men are
end0wed by their Creator with certain in<Jlienable rights to secure for which governments are
ins . . 1 appears substantially as an exprcssionofthe first principle of liberalism;
iii Economic liberty it meant that the individual should have the right to property and contact.
Thi;freedthe md1vldual from economic restraints and economic liberty for classical liberalism
was the acceptance of the policy oflaissez fairi;-,,.i.cmi;~~ftt1ctt.,at the state should intervene as
little as possible in the economic affairs; iv) Political liherty nd po ular sovereignty: they
mt:an that all men should have rights and all must e ena ed to enjoy equa opportunities.
These two concepts were described by Hobhouse as the crown and glory of liberalism. The
doctrine of popufar sovereignty was stressed by the Decl~n of lrid.~pendencg Am~ri_ca.
It meant sovereignty of the people. it vested in them the supreme power or pol1t1cal dec,s,on
 and action. Cor)Cepts of political freedom and .
popu 1ar sovc rc, "n ty I ·J l , r, h.
consequences and formation of principles such a...5 - . . I f~ t: . o many ,ar reac ing

q,m
•l . .. universa su ,rage , direct election of ublic
_1c1a s, public accountabtl1ty of governors, annual p" arliarn- l 1.. J" .- • P .
h I ·I t:ll ~. ~uuvr ina11u 11 oft~e cx~ cutl""
tot e eg1s ature; v) and last but not the least, classical liberalism als · d 'd •" '."
· ·
firee dom. admm1strat1ve · d · . o inc 1u e domestic
an racial liberty and international libert It d
. • . •. _ •. Y- was oppose to the use
of 1orce_as _ an instrument
. ofnat1onal
. policy
. . or militarism
. . It was pr·imar· 1
1y be · 1·ism
cause capita
needed p~ac;~ arig !~~~~~~t1_o~al CO?~tton .t~r the free flow of goods from one countrJ tc
another and hence, it pleaded for the removal ofall oolitical and other barriers which st d ·
· l. . .,- t oo m
, the way of effi1c1ent ex.p 01tat1on of world resources.

CRITICAL EVALUATION
The political philosophy ofliberalism has been a subject of criticism at the hands of its advocates
as well as its opponents; by the former on account of their polemical interpretations and by
the latter, o~-account of their indictment of the premises of individuali5m. The curious thing
about the philosophy oflibcralism is Ulat it has been denounced, rejected, revised and defended
by leading writers. For example, Laski who criticized the ·values of the 'bourgeois class' and
yet laid emphasis on the virtues of freedom and tolerance. Likewise, Michael Oakeshott
commented that 'a philosophy of crude and uncritical individualism is, in fact, inconsistent
with social democracy.' Some important points of criticism of classical liberalism are as
follows :

i) An Amorph9us rdeology

Both as a doctrine and as a movement, liberalism is an amorphous ideology. Liberalism is

commonly used by everyone; who talk in public for every divergent ar.d contradictory purpose.
As Bottomore writes. :,
'one can remain liberal and be for, and the other remain liberal and be
againsl. a vast range of contradictory political propositions' . The business man and the labour
leader, the general and .the soldier, the subsidized farmer and the watchmaker all speak in
terms of liberalism, ciefeuding their interests and making their demands. Similarly, Bullock
and Shock write that no student of modern political philosophy would reasonably deny the
name of liberal to any of the men represented in this connection, yet each of them, Fox and
Bentham, Richard Cobden and Lloyd John Russell. Macaulay and Acton, Herbert Spencer
and T.H.G,een, Gladstone and Lloyd George, Mill and Keynes he:cfviews widely different in
some ~espect from those of others. And these differences arc differences not only of policies
and programmes- those are more easily explained, but also of principle. for example of the
role of the st.ate, the vexed question of /aissezjaire._'"fhis means that as a public policy, liberalism
is without a cohere_nt policy, that its goals have been made so formal and abstract as to provide
no clear ruoral'standard, that in its tem1s genuine conflict of interests, classes, parties and
ideals can no"ionger be stated cle_arly. Used virtualiy by all, it lacks political, moral_and
intellectual clarity. This very·lack of clarity is exploited by all interests. It calls its indecis~
as open-mindedness, its absence of moral criterion as tolerance. and formality (or political
irrelevance) ofcriteria as 'broadly speaking'.

ii) Wrong View of Man and Society

The liberal view of man and society has also been_criticized. Although the liberal view of
human nature has.changed in the twentieth century, ne_vertheless, it considers man as «t&Ol~t!_c~ .
lonely, separate from the society, possessive and concerned with the fulfilment of his•~i{.. ft ,. . .
. );~::} fit::'.·: '
'21

.. ·•
... ·. •_
 ·
1/lleresls. ·
Consequ . as an agoreoa
entl y, the soc ·iety was a Iso seen o o te of. .indiv idu
. als• an anifi1c1
·a1
:.;:$t:tut ion with no ,.,rg 1 nic un ity cf its own. and 1he functi on of politics bein g the conversion
of individual-and group conflicts into cooperati on, harmony and u111ty. In other _w~rd~, society
is no more than a jungle where animals roam in the garb of men. The . socialist ideology
t ompletely rejected this notion of man and society. It argued that man 1s de~e~dent upon
D!hers not only for material needs, but also for cultural and.spiritual. needs- Socialism viP.wed
. man as a social, cooperative being and held the view that the nature of man cannot be studied
apart from the society in which he lives. For example, Owen called it unethicill, Bax tenned it
tmnatural, Marx called it animal like; Mao called it poison, Morris called it hell. Liberalism
ms no convincing view of the structure of society as a whole other than the now vague notion
af it as some kind of a big balance in which all social classes work for the common good. It
Fias no firm sense of history of our times nor of our generation's place within that history.

Philosophy of the Capitalist Clas5

Notwithstanding the highly flexible character of the principles of liberalism, it cannot be

dbiied that it remained the philosophy of the ·capitalist class and continues to retain its
'bourgeois' character. Liberalism has been the finn ideology of one class inside one epoch -
1fle urban entrcpiJ:neurial middle class which later on became the industrial/capitalist class. It
!las been the economic philosophy of capitalism and its basic purpose has been the maintenance
fJfsocio-political arrangements necessary for capitalist economic relations. Critics point out
diat its welfare measures have been incidental to its fundamental purpose of protecting and
i,romoting the interests of the capitalist class: According to Laski, libtralism has always seen
ilie poor, as if they became poor because of their own mistakes. Classical liberalism always
lilllderplayed the fact that property also brings with it the power to rule over men and things.
Although it-gives the right to property at a universal level, yet at a practical level, the right i~ · ·
tnjoyed only by a minority. The attitude ofliberalism towards the poor, trade union activities,
eduo.1tion, health, housing, social security is wimess to the fact that in the ultimate anaiysis,
all questions are related to profit The whole economy is geared to the production for profit
1w the owners of the means of production, however, regulated and controlled the economy
may be by the state. As Laski wrote we must, ifwe are to be honest, admit that liberalism for
""'irich Hobhouse battled so bravC:y has suffe:ed an eclipse as startling and as complete as that
which attended the doct~ine of the divine right of the kings after the revolution of 1688. The
main reason for this was that libera!ism became an instrument in the hands of the privileged
class to retain its rights.

r,) Negativ~ Concept of State

The criticism commonly passed on this kind of liberalism was that it neglected institutions
and their historical growth and that, it worked with a falsely schematic conception of human
nature and motives. Jt had no positive conception of social good and that its egoistic
individualism made it look with suspicion on the validity of any such conceptions, at a time
when the total welfare of the community was becoming a princip.il object of concern. Its
of
weakness as a political philosophy was that its theory government _was aJmost wholly
negative at a time when it was becoming inevitable lliat the government should assume a
luger responsibility for general welfare. That early political economy was full ofcontradictions
was well explained by Karl -Marx, who turned its arguments to _a quite ~ifferent purpose.
Ricardo had emphasized that the interests of the landlord were antagonistic to that of both
fabour and capital. Karl Marx said that it was equally true that the interests of the capitalists

24
 were antagoniS tic to that of the working class becaust:: whatever share of the product went to
profit wa~ drawn from the wages of the workers. If the landlord could extract rent because he
mono~hze.:! !an?, the capitalist in an industrialized economy monopolized the means of
~rodu~t1on and_his profits a_re a kind of surplus value or the economic ren'.. In fact, negative
liberalism provided Marx with a ready picture of the exploitation,oflabour. Liberal economists
!.~ought that the system they were describing was natural, whereas Marx explained that it was
rooted in history and ascribed the exploitation to the capitalist system. Similarly, Laski aiso
.s~id later on: 'the purpose of capitalism was to free the owners of the means of production
from all those constraints which hampered the complete economic exploitation' . Its conc_ep~s
of human nature, society, social harmony economy and state began to be challenged by the
mid-nineteenth century, as a result of which it changed to welf¥e liberalism.

To criticize liberalism is not to belittle its historical importance and contribution. During the
past 400 years, liberalism has given many humanistic and democratic ideas and almost all the
issues of modern western philosophy have been conne~ted w·ith liberalism in one way or the
· other. It _has been the mainstream of western socio-economic and political philosophy.
Liberalism has given progressive slogans like liberty, equality, fraternity, natural and inalienable
rights ofman, democracy, development of human personality etc and jt has vigorously fought
against the orthodoxies represented by monarchy, papacy and the feudal socio-economic order.
In the beginning. as the philosophy of the revolutionary bourgeoi.sie class, liberalism-guided
many revolutionary stryggles, ·against the feudal order. Tts· economic philosophy played an
importanhok.-in the !!!~ustrial development of the west, its social philqsophy helpe.d in the
establishment of an open market society; its political philosophy. paved: the way for liberal
democracy, its ethical philosophy led to the triumph of individualism, a11d its promoted
secularism in all walks of social life. Classical libeoilism fre~d the individual from traditional ·
authorities anchh.e state, and maintained that political power is the trust of the people. However,
during the_later half of the 19th century, a number of contradictions began t(l emerge in the
fa~e of r:r.arxist challenge and gradually, classical liberalism w~s replaced by welfare. (or
positive) Hberalism. But we continue to need _l_iberaltsm, though it may not be enough. The
drift towards authoritarianism and the decaJ"it,'civil tiberties, the increase in police powers
and the curtajlment ofrights are developments underlying the fragility ofliberal achievements
even in its traditional heartlands and make a firm commitment to the best ofliberal values and
institutions air the more necessa_ry.

15.7 SUMMARY
. Liberalism. is the dominant -ideology of (he present~day western 'f,'Orld. It was the product of
the climate of-opinion that merged-in the context of renaissance;- reformation and industrial
revolution in England and Europe. Classical liberaHsm has beeri enriched by a host of thinkers,
prominent among whom are Tbo!'Jlas Hobbes; John Locke, Adam Smith, Malthus, Richardo,
Bentham, James Mill,-+lerbe~ Spencer, Wilfo:m Senior a·nd Thomas Paine. ·

Classical liberalism had faith in the absolute value and worth ,'and spiritua~ equality of the
individual. ·

It believed in the masterless individual, in the a1;1tonomy of the indi~idual will and the rationality
· and go6dness of the individual.
 1
J
The individual mu st have freedom in all spheres: political, soc i~I. t:ultural, ccu noni ic. 1110nl
intellectual. spiritunl etc. Freedom meant absence of restrain!s or frecd<Hn frr,n, ;ill , t1Ch
authorities which cou!d act arbitrarily or capriciously,
It l,dieved in the inalienable rights of the individual. It cherished the rights of life, liberty and
property as natural rights, not at the mercy of either state pr society
It supported free economy, free trade, contract, exchange and competition. It opposed state
interference in the economy,
It considered the state as an artificial institution. It is the creation of man and is based upon
social contract. The relationship between the state and the individual is contractual and if the
state violates the contract, revolution against the stale (government) is the duty of the ind ivid ua I.

The state, in spite of being the creation of man, is, necessarily an evil; its role is purely
negative i.e. to maintain law and order, protect the rights of the individual and leave the
individuat free 'to pursue his own good in his own way'.

· 15.8 EXERCISES
I) Explain the concept and ch!l111cteristics of liberal ism.

2) Discuss the ris: of liberalism.

3) Critically examine free market liberalism.

4) Discuss classical liberalism. ·

·. i , { _,·

26