Syllabus
Course Plan
1. Liberalism: the central issues
2. Non-liberal traditions and the divine right of kings
3. Locke on natural law and natural rights
4. Locke on property
5. Locke on the creation of the state by contract
6. Locke on religious toleration
7. Montesquieu on the separation of powers
8. The American constitution
9. Von Humboldt on individuality and diversity
10. J.S. Mill on freedom of expression
11. Contemporary libertarianism and social liberalism
12. Conclusion
Annotation
Liberalism and its Historical Roots
Liberalism is the view in political philosophy that the liberty of the individual is a foundational value. While liberalism undoubtedly owes a debt to ancient philosophers (Aristotle, Cicero), it was first developed in a systematic form in the early-modern period. We will study the expressions of liberalism particularly in the work of John Locke, but also in the work of Charles Montesquieu, Wilhelm von Humboldt and J.S. Mill. We will also investigate the connections between these historical liberals and contemporary liberal thought. We will pay particular attention to the notion of a social contract, the concept of consent, and the arguments of the liberals for freedom of expression and against the centralisation of power. We will also investigate the conception of the individual that liberalism draws upon.