Classical Liberalism
Classical Liberalism
The notions and interests of the bourgeoisie were represented by Classical Liberalism in their struggle against the ruling aristocracy as they rose to power in the 17th and 18th centuries and the proletariat in the 19th century as they solidified their rule. Societal economic, political and legal structures development in France led to an increase in importance of the bourgeoisie but political power was championed by Napoleon Bonaparte to reflect their interests and values leaving the other European countries to follow the same footsteps.
Classical liberalism can be categorized into two. To begin with, that dealing with the nature of human beings. According to this category, classical liberalism is a result of Feudal and ancient understanding whereby the individual is placed at the center ( Desch, 2007). That individual is free, being free is human and because acting freely is an important element of our birthright. This simply means that the individual could act rationally and hence maximize their self-interests which is naturally selfish as individuals would do their best to achieve own selfish goals.
The social relationship predicted by Classical Liberalism portrayed the conduct and standards of the new selfish individual. The beginning of the modern democracy was marked by consent of every individual for the legitimacy of the regime and no acceptance of any law and especially relating to property could be accepted without consent. Every individual could therefore lawfully sell their labor at a price of choice which also applied to all commodities whose price was determined by the market and sold to whoever could buy, therefore replacing the feudal notion of “just price”. In conclusion, Adam Smith provided the rationale for the free market by reasoning that free setting of price produced the best outcome while interference in the market leads to production of less than ideal outcome.
References
Desch, M. C. (2007). The Ideological Origins of Overreaction in the US Foreign Policy. International Security, 1-37.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER
Classical Liberalism
