Synonyms
Equality; Freedom; Individualism; Liberal democratic capitalism; Libertarianism; Neoliberalism; Open society; Property rights
Definition of Liberalism
Liberalism is a complex cluster of political and moral values which arose in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe and which has been central to politics and political thought in “the west” ever since. The key values of liberalism are individualism, liberty or freedom, equality, human rights, democracy, rule of law, property rights, free markets, capitalism, social justice, and progress.
Liberalism comes in many forms, depending partly on which liberal values are advocated and partly on the priority of various values; more importantly, forms of liberalism depend on the definition and interpretation of liberal values. In particular, concepts of liberty (also known as freedom or autonomy) can vary greatly; such variations have led to different forms of liberalism, especially the split between big-government and...
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References
Locke J ([1690] 1988) Two treatises of government (Laslett P ed). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Mill JS ([1859] 1991) On liberty and other essays. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Nozick R (1974) Anarchy, state, and utopia. Basic Books, New York
Rawls J (1971) A theory of justice. Oxford University Press, London
Rawls J (2005) Political liberalism, expanded edn. Columbia University Press, New York
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Bishop, J.D. (2023). Liberalism. In: Poff, D.C., Michalos, A.C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Business and Professional Ethics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22767-8_290
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22767-8_290
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