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Example research essay topic: 19 Th Century State Of Nature - 1,248 words

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Classical liberalism was primarily the 19 th Century European view of decentralized society, which emphasized limited government and laissez-faire economics. It is the liberal political theory that holds the central discourse in the world since about the 17 th Century. Klosko interprets the theory s main concern as, the individual and his rights. Many people think of classical liberalism as the modern Democratic party, which holds the liberal, left-wing ideology.

Classical liberalism does not hold this ideology, but one that is aimed at protecting the rights of the individual and his ability to enjoy as much freedom as possible. It is an attitude, philosophy or movement that has as its basic code 3 rn the development of personal freedom and social progress. The character of the prevailing form of government usually conditions the course of liberalism in a given country. For example, in countries in which the political and religious authorities are separate, liberalism connotes mainly, political, economic, and social reform; in countries in which a state church exists or a church is politically influential, liberalism connotes, mainly, anticlericalism. In domestic politics, liberals have opposed feudal restraints that prevent the individual from rising out of a low social status; barriers such as censorship that limit free expression of opinion; and arbitrary power exercised over the individual by the state. In international politics, liberals have opposed the domination of foreign policy by militarists and military considerations and the exploitation of native colonial people, and they have sought to substitute a cosmopolitan policy of international cooperation.

In economics, liberals have attacked monopolies and mercantilist state policies that subject the economy to state control. In religion, liberals have fought against church interference in the affairs of the state and attempts by religious pressure groups to influence public opinion. A distinction is sometimes made between so-called negative liberalism and positive liberalism. Between the mid- 17 th and the mid- 19 th centuries, liberals fought chiefly against oppression, arbitrariness, and misuses of power and emphasized the needs of the free individual.

About the middle of the 19 th century many liberals developed a more positive program stressing the constructive social activity of the state and advocating state action in the interests of the individual. The present-day defenders of the older liberal policies deplore this departure and argue that positive liberalism is merely authoritarianism in disguise. The defenders of positive liberalism argue that state and church are not the only obstructer's of freedom, but that poverty may deprive the individual of the possibility of making significant choices and must therefore be controlled by constituted authority. An influential early liberal was the English philosopher John Locke. In his political writings, which deeply influenced the framers of the U. S.

Constitution, he argued for popular sovereignty, the right of rebellion against oppression, and toleration of religious minorities. According to the thought of Locke and his many followers, the state exists not to promote people s spiritual, but to serve its citizens and to guarantee their life, liberty, and property under a constitution. Klosko called Locke, the archetypal representative of liberal political theory. He starts his political theory at the individual and not society. Locke believed that in the state of nature, individuals have their rights from God because they are his creation. And it s in the state of nature that the individual labors and attains property.

The reason the individual enters into society and an erected government is to protect their God given rights and property. Therefore, government for Locke is a means to the end, which is protection, or we could say salvation. Machen believes differently however, saying liberalism finds salvation/[protection] in man; Christianity finds it in an act of God. The difference with regard to the way of salvation concerns the basis of salvation in the redeeming work of Christ. (John 3: 16) According to the Bible, Jesus is our Savior, not by virtue of what He said, but by what he did. In Hebrews we read, but we Jesus who was made for he suffering of death that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. The classical liberalism theory has five main propositions.

First is that its main concern is the individual. The individual in this theory posses his right by his own virtue and not society. Before an individual enters into society, there is a situation without government. This coincides with the Bible, in that man has no virtue whether it is in or out of society. Man is a totally depraved, dead individual before the salvation process which is through Christ s redemptive blood. (Romans 5: 12, Isaiah 1: 18 / 53: 5).

The second proposition written in Klosko s book, is the community or society is nothing but the individuals who compose it. This idea adds a moral perspective to the ideology. It s the idea that what s good for the state is nothing more than what is good for the people with whom it is made. Next is the idea that the classical liberalist's hold an instrumental view of politics. The society is not to define people s interests, but to serve the interests that already exist.

This goes against the Bible as well. Society and government exist for the purpose of completing the will of God. Individuals exist for the same purpose, however, in our fallen state, before salvation, we have no desire to do the will of God. The forth point is that the ends, which is protection of rights and property, are limited.

Biblically, man is a slave to sin before salvation and cannot have freedom until that point. (Galatians 5: 1) Finally classical liberalism has a negative conception of freedom. This is simply the freedom of the individual to not have the government interfere with certain rights. These could include speech, assembly, press, religion, etc. In Great Britain, the utilitarian school, chiefly the jurist, Jeremy Bentham and his disciple, the economist John Stuart Mill, elaborated liberalism.

The Utilitarians reduced all human experiences to pleasures and pains, maintaining that the only function of the state was to increase pleasure and reduce pain and that legislation was acceptable as an evil designed to reduce worse evils. Utilitarian liberalism had an especially beneficial effect on the reform of British criminal law. Jeremy Bentham was the philosopher who traditionally applied utilitarianism to the reform of social and political institutions (Klosko 314). Utilitarian Liberalism holds the view that the need of the many outweighs the needs of the few.

Bentham s interest in this ideology primarily stemmed from his interest in science. As Klosko observed, The key to Bentham s scientific analysis is the attractive force of pleasure. Bentham believed that man lives in a state of nature which consists of pleasure and pain. Under the ideology of utilitarianism, teleological and de ontological issues are addressed.

The simplicity of this theory is it s strength something is either done because it s right or because the outcome is right. All of this is based on how much pleasure one is awarded with. Utilitarian Liberalism is un Biblical because the greatest happiness in our lives does not come from whatever gives us the most pleasure, but doing God s will. And sometimes, God s will can cause our hearts to break, which is not pleasure able. However, in the end, it will be worth it all because then we will experience the greatest joy when we see our Saviour face to face. 32 f


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Research essay sample on 19 Th Century State Of Nature

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