What are the Inherit Problems and Contradictions of Liberali
Liberalism is a broad church of ideology that has provided the staple set of principles that form modern political thought. Since its inception as one of the core developments of the enlightenment, liberalism has evolved into a vast, all spanning and often contradictory forest of political thought. Though some forms of liberalism seem poles apart they all, for the most part, share the same underlying principles, those being ideas of tolerance, reason, justice and above all the rights and freedoms of the individual. Though many of the principles of liberalism simply became so through association and as a result are not always expressed by other strands of the ethos, the idea of the individual and their rights is the cornerstone and bed rock of all sects and divisions and has been so for the last two hundred years. The end is universal one, what varies so spectacularly are the means. Perhaps many of the contradictions of liberalism stem from the fact that is formed from seemingly opposite ideals. The idea of natural rights, which would now be called human rights, were thought to be self evident by Thomas Jefferson and essential to any liberal society. They were called natural rights because they were believed to be just that; inal
The strands of Liberalism are many and varied, and much of what is said seems to be at odds with other, supposedly liberal ideas. This simply reflects the growth and fairly unanimous acceptance of liberalism through out the western world. Indeed, so accepted are liberal ideals that, like democracy, it has become some of what a political buzz word flouted at almost every opportunity by all political creeds. This has led to a somewhat distortion of the true meaning of the ideology, or at least a shift in focus from its core beliefs. None the less it is fair to say that the basic ideals of liberalism have influenced all political creeds through out the western world. In fact its fair to say that liberalism is the hardiest of all ideologies, surviving from its birth in the enlightenment and out lasting feudalism and communism along the way and infusing its self into every sphere of western political thought as well as influencing countless others. Though many principles have become associated with Liberalism they do not always represent it. For instance ideas of Social Darwinism advocate survival of the fittest, and suggest that all those who are unemployed, alcoholic or other such misfortune are so because they are biologically suited so. These ideas hardly sit right those tolerance and reason. ienable and undeniable and given to all at birth. Jefferson and the early liberals defined them as 'Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness'. British philosopher Locke defined them slightly differently as being 'Life, Liberty and Property', though perhaps the latter simply reflects his interpretation of happiness. The idea of natural rights was challenged by the contemporary and markedly contradictory notion of 'Utilitarianism'. Utilitarianism was based on ideas of human nature and rejected ideas of natural rights. Utilitarian philosophers believed that individuals are motivate
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Approximate Word count = 1271
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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