7 ideas
20100 | Classical liberalism seeks freedom of opinion, of private life, of expression, and of property [Micklethwait/Wooldridge] |
Full Idea: The classical liberals agreed on a basic list of freedoms: of opinion (including religion), of private life, of expression, and of property | |
From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 9) | |
A reaction: Mill is main articulator of this. Modern neo-liberals focus on economic freedom. Neither of them seem to make freedom of opportunity central, though I suspect our modern Liberal Party would. |
7903 | The six perfections are giving, morality, patience, vigour, meditation, and wisdom [Nagarjuna] |
Full Idea: The six perfections are of giving, morality, patience, vigour, meditation, and wisdom. | |
From: Nagarjuna (Mahaprajnaparamitashastra [c.120], 88) | |
A reaction: What is 'morality', if giving is not part of it? I like patience and vigour being two of the virtues, which immediately implies an Aristotelian mean (which is always what is 'appropriate'). |
20097 | The welfare state aims at freedom from want, and equality of opportunity [Micklethwait/Wooldridge] |
Full Idea: In the classical liberal tradition freedom meant freedom from external control, and equality meant equality before the law. In the welfare state (of Beatrice Webb) freedom was reinterpreted as freedom from want, and equality as equality of opportunity. | |
From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3) | |
A reaction: The authors call this the 'third revolution' in government, after 17th century centralisation and early 19th century accountability. Tawney 1931 is the key text. |
20099 | For communists history is driven by the proletariat [Micklethwait/Wooldridge] |
Full Idea: For the communists the proletariat rather than the state was the locomotive of history. | |
From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3) | |
A reaction: I feel increasingly reluctant to support any party which appears to mainly represent the interests of a single social class, no matter how large that class may be. An attraction of liberalism is that it makes no reference to class. |
20098 | Fans of economic freedom claim that capitalism is self-correcting [Micklethwait/Wooldridge] |
Full Idea: The central laissez-faire conceit is that capitalism is a self-correcting mechanism. | |
From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 3) | |
A reaction: This was Keynes's rather left-wing criticism of standard capitalist views. These resurfaced in the 1980s with mantras about the virtues of 'market forces'. |
20096 | Roman law entrenched property rights [Micklethwait/Wooldridge] |
Full Idea: Roman law entrenched property rights. | |
From: Micklethwait,J/Wooldridge,A (The Fourth Revolution [2014], 1 Intro) | |
A reaction: Normally attributed to Locke, so this is a good corrective. Was the principle gradually forgotten before Locke? |
4677 | If suicide is wrong because only God disposes of our lives, it must also be wrong to save lives [Hume] |
Full Idea: Were the disposal of human life so much the peculiar province of the Almighty that it were an encroachment on His right, for men to dispose of their own lives; it would be equally criminal to act for the preservation of life as for its destruction. | |
From: David Hume (On suicide [1775]), quoted by Jonathan Glover - Causing Death and Saving Lives §13 | |
A reaction: A characteristically wicked and neat point. Maybe we can intervene in the environment (diverting a falling stone), but not directly in a life? Life is sacred, but stones are not? |