A Locke On Your Individual Rights

Another area in which it is suggested that modern liberalism has departed from classical liberalism is freedom. Classical liberals believe in negative freedom. This is simply that there should be an absence of external constraints on the individual and as such they should be left alone to make their own choices. In this way classical liberals were heavily influenced by the natural rights theories of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson claimed that we were born with inalienable rights and therefore no individual or government had the right to take these away. Freedom from constraints is therefore an essential condition for exercising these rights. In practise, this has meant that classical liberals have advocated a minimal state or what John Locke referred to as the ‘night-watchman state’. The activities of this state should be limited to the enforcement of contracts, maintaining order and protection from foreign threats to prevent the state from infringing on individual liberties as much as possible.

To enlighten is to give intellectual or spiritual light to someone. The Enlightenment period in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries was an intellectual movement that inspired thought, question, and reason in people across the continent. It was the age of new ideals that forever altered the course of our world today and will always be a time where tradition was no longer the primary way in which people led their lives. Several Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Hobbes have influenced multiple government systems to reform their ways by inspiring revolution. Natural Rights creates a democratic republic government where supreme power rests with the people and allows them to elect representatives to operate their country, therefore upsetting citizens since absolute monarchies rule. Natural Rights spawns uprisings and revolution in countries because people believe it to be their right to have shared power which is evident through multiple documents such as The English Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, and The Declaration of the Rights of Man.

Classical liberalism allow an individual to use primary social value of liberty in the political culture that extent until liberties of the others disturbed. Classical liberal ideas often form the basis for opposition to the use of government to attain social and personal objectives. They stress reliance on private the free market to determine the best outcomes rather than the private initiatives [1].

It is worth noting that is so as long as the liberties of others are not restricted. It is from this perspective that the basis for opposition is viable as opposed to the use of government to attain social objectives. Classical liberalism focuses on private initiatives or the free market to guide and foster the best outcomes. From history, classical liberalism has fueled support for religious and civil liberties. Classical liberalism can be rather viewed as an embrace of an individual’s right to do his or her own thing.

The U.S constitution was written in September 17, 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention by James Madison. This page of writing would help establish America’s government and fundamental laws . These laws will help defend the natural rights of the citizens living in the United States. But the laws would not of been written or even exist without the ideas of past enlightenment thinkers, philosophers, and political scientists of the past. Such as John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and François-Marie Arouet aka (Voltaire).

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (“Declaration”). These words, spoken by a wise and prominent man by the name of Thomas Jefferson, were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment’s most profound philosopher, John Locke. Since the beginning of Enlightenment to the 21st century, Locke’s ideas have been behind countless innovators, philosophers, and politicians; including our very own Founding Fathers. From being an enlightened philosopher to creating bold, new ideas, John Locke is the single most influential person in history because he helped

Liberalism is a collection of political, social and economic philosophies that is centered around the rights of personal liberties, civil rights, economic freedom, controlled and democratic government and the rule of law. A controlled and democratic government is instrumental to liberalism. A controlled government is one restricted by the law. The most common example of this can be found in the United States Constitution. The Constitution has outlined the roles and restrictions of each branch of government while also setting a system of checks and balances.

“Classical Liberalism” is the belief that there should be an economic and political liberal beliefs while a “Liberal” on the U.S. Political Spectrum is someone who relies on the government to control capitalism.

Classical liberalism is the transition from focusing on government to focusing on the rights of individuals. This transition came about during the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment period was when man started to have more faith in his own reasoning. People began to look for evidence on their beliefs themselves and to find proof on these beliefs, so that they could come up with their own opinions on things. One way that they did this was by going back and rereading Roman and Greek texts and retranslating these texts. This new way of thinking also caused the Protestant Reformation to occur. Some of the most influential Enlightenment writers were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the people of France’s National Constituent Assembly.

Classical liberalism is an ideology that is usually unfavorable to using authority of the state other than ensuring rights and liberties. Government and individuals agree to protect people’s rights and allow for maximum freedom. Laissez-faire focuses on the liberty of an individual and the lack of social equality. Laissez-faire capitalism is where people are unrestricted to invest in what the prices of services will be, what the produce will sell at. In a modern welfare-state capitalism has influenced our understanding of the terms of the social contract because they practice a system of mixed capitalist that have rules by the government for businesses and marketing.

The first major tenet of Liberalism is individual liberty. Individual liberty, to Mill, is the ability for every individual

1b. Locke believes that people's natural rights are the ultimate freedom. However in the state of nature, he suggests that the protection of people was limited on the belief that others would live by the same rules. Similar to the saying, “treat people the way you want to be treated”. People are morally bound to respect other’s possessions and beliefs in the natural life. Unfortunately, in the state of nature, rules are often underwritten based upon man’s intentions. However, when someone broke moral code, the governing of the masses would provide a just consequence on behalf of the collective agreement. This ensured that a single person wouldn’t seek to roam at free will and be the judge of his own actions. Obviously, that would lead to a

In the 18th century in England, many new thoughts and ideals were appearing. During this time, famously known as the Enlightenment, philosophers thought of ways to better governments in the world. There were six main ideals that arose from this time period: progress, reason, natural rights, separation of powers, the social contract and laissez-faire. These ideals shaped many governments throughout the world. The most significant ideal is natural rights. The idea of natural rights influenced many people over time and that can be seen through documents such as the United States Constitution, The Declaration of the Rights of Man, and The Saint Domingue Constitution of 1801.

One of John Locke’s philosophical theories was the right to life,liberty,and property. These rights have been violated by militants and is threatening the lives of innocent Muslim people.All people have a right to subsist safely, make their own decisions,and to be able to live in their own homes. The people’s freedoms are being jeopardized. The government’s responsibility is supposed to be to enforce these rights but they are part of the problem.

Liberalism is a political philosophy based on the ideals of liberty and equality that grew out of reactionary means against religious conformity and ascribed status in medieval Europe. Given its expansive history, it should be noted that there are multiple forms of liberalism. Classical liberalism emphasizes the role of liberty (sometimes at the expense of social justice), while social liberalism stresses the importance of social equality (sometimes at the expense of favoring state control). Thomas Hobbes, a preliberal thinker, stated that “nature has made man so equal…” and that “the right of nature…is the liberty each man has, to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature…”1