Concept

Classical liberalism

Overview

Classical liberalism (sometimes called English liberalism, and historically called Whiggism) is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic freedom, political freedom and freedom of speech. Classical liberalism, contrary to liberal branches like social liberalism, looks more negatively on social policies, taxation and state involvement in the lives of individuals, and it advocates deregulation.

Until the Great Depression and the rise of social liberalism, classical liberalism was called economic liberalism. Later, the term was applied as a retronym, to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from social liberalism. By modern standards, in the United States, the bare term liberalism often means social or progressive liberalism, but in Europe and Australia, the bare term liberalism often means classical liberalism.

Classical liberalism developed in the early 18th century, building on ideas dating back to the 16th century, and was foundational to the American Revolution and the "American Project" more broadly. Notable liberal individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke, François Quesnay, Jean-Baptiste Say, Montesquieu, David Hume, Edward Gibbon, Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Marquis de Condorcet, Thomas Paine, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo. It drew on classical economics, especially the economic ideas espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations, and on a belief in natural law. In contemporary times, Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, Thomas Sowell, Walter E. Williams, George Stigler, Larry Arnhart, Ronald Coase and James M. Buchanan are seen as the most prominent advocates of classical liberalism. However, other scholars have made reference to these contemporary thoughts as neoclassical liberalism, distinguishing them from 18th-century classical liberalism.

In its defense of economic liberties, classical liberalism may be described as right-wing, though classical liberals tend to reject the right's higher tolerance for economic protectionism. Conversely, in its defense of civil liberties, it has more in common with modern liberalism (the left), though classical liberalism tends to reject the left's inclination for collective group rights due to its central principle of individualism. Additionally, in the United States, classical liberalism is considered closely tied to, or synonymous with, American libertarianism.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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The word Economy, or Œconomy, is derived from _οἰκός, a house_, and _νόμος, law_, and meant originally only the wise and legitimate government of the house for the common good of the whole family. The meaning of the term was then extended to the government of that great family, the State. To distinguish these two senses of the word, the latter is called _general_ or _political_ economy, and the former domestic or…
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The social contract & discourses
States what Classical liberalism is; the author is tied to Classical liberalism in the knowledge graph.
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Inasmuch, however, as no government produces all possible beneficial effects, but all are attended with more or fewer inconveniences, and since these can not usually be combated by means drawn from the very causes which produce them, it would be often a much stronger recommendation of some practical arrangement, that it does not follow from what is called the general principle of the government, than that it does…
John Stuart Mill, A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive
States what Classical liberalism is; the author is tied to Classical liberalism in the knowledge graph.
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If, therefore, Political Economy be a science, it cannot be a collection of practical rules; though, unless it be altogether a useless science, practical rules must be capable of being founded upon it. The science of mechanics, a branch of natural philosophy, lays down the laws of motion, and the properties of what are called the mechanical powers. The art of practical mechanics teaches how we may avail ourselves of…
John Stuart Mill, Essays on some unsettled Questions of Political Economy
States what Classical liberalism is; the author is tied to Classical liberalism in the knowledge graph.
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Classical liberalism

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