Economic and Philosophical liberalism
Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
Période : S4
No courses are required as pre-requisite; an introduction to economics is adviced, as the course will use basic economic concepts.
This course offers a general survey of core contributions to the philosophy of liberalism, from the foundations in the 16th century to contemporary discussions in Political Philosophy. The students will obtain a strong grip on the liberal tradition and its importance for contemporary theories of the State, social justice, political authority, toleration, markets, or the role of the law and constitutions. It makes room for different strands of liberal theorizing, from the anarcho-liberal views of Ayn Rand and Nozick to the liberal egalitarian contributions of John Rawls or Martha Nussbaum. However, important liberal authors will be mentioned only in passing, due to time constraints (Dunoyer, Spencer, Hobhouse, Rothbard, Friedman father and son, Eucken, Dworkin, Sen, Gaus, and many others). The course is constructed chronologically, presenting the historical building blocks of liberal thinking before diving into more contemporary discussions within liberalism and the challenges liberalism faces (e.g., the critique of socialism, the opposition to communitarianism, the role of the market, and social justice within liberalism, etc.).
1. What is liberalism? Politics, philosophy & economics
A Commitment to Liberty: Isaiah Berlin, Two Concepts of Liberty (1956) / Thomas Hill Green, Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation and Other Essays (1895) / Pettit’s Republicanism (1997)
Old and New Liberalism: Dewey, Liberalism Old and New (1927) vs Hayek’s Law, Legislation, and Liberty (1976).
The false dichotomy: economic and political liberalism.
2. The Critique of Absolutism: Freedom of conscience and the State.
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1640) (mentions).
John Milton’s Aeropagitica (1644) (mentions).
John Locke’s Letter on Toleration (1710), reading.
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791), excerpts.
3. The Justification of the Private Sphere: Property and Rights.
John Locke, Second Treatise on Government (1688), substantial excerpts.
4. The Autonomy of Economics: French Liberalism in the 18th and laissez-faire.
Pierre de Boisguilbert, Dissertation sur la nature des richesses (1707), « Qu’on laisse faire la nature ! »
Jacques Turgot, Réflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses (1770), paragraphs
Etienne de Condillac, Le Commerce et le gouvernement considérés relativement l’un à l’autre (1776), II, 1.
Extra for the 19th : Frédéric Bastiat, Harmonies Economiques (1850), on the State, the candlemakers, Gustave de Molinari, Les soirées de la rue Saint-Lazare (1849), on State interventions.
5. From Moral Philosophy to Political Economy: The Rise of the Civil Society
Bernard Mandeville, Fable of the Bees (1703) (mentions).
Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiment (1758); Wealth of Nations (1776), excerpts.
6. The Justification of Limited Power: Constitutionalism and Limited Democracy
John Hay, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, The Federalist Papers (1788), excerpts.
Benjamin Constant, Principes de Politique (1810), « Sur la souveraineté du peuple ».
7. Classical Liberalism: John Stuart Mill.
John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (1848), V, 9, on Laissez-faire.
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (1859), excerpts.
8. The Critique of “Old” Liberalism
Walter Lippmann, The Good Society (1937), excerpts.
Wilhelm Röpke, Civitas Humana (1946), excerpts.
9. The Refutation of Socialism
Ludwig Von Mises, Socialism (1922), excerpts.
Friedrich Hayek, “The Use of Knowledge in Society” (1945), American Economic Review.
Friedrich Hayek, Law, Legislation, Liberty, vol. II, “The Mirage of Social Justice”, excerpts.
10. Egalitarian Liberalism
John Rawls, Theory of Justice (1971), Part. I et II (Basic Structure, Original Position, and Principles of Justice).
Complement: Martha Nussbaum, Creating Capabilities (2011), chap. 1-2.
11. Libertarianism(s)
Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), chap. 7.
Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Egoism (1964), chap. 4.
12. The Actuality of Liberalism: Communautarianism and Pluralism
Will Kymlicka, “Liberalism and Communautarianism” (1988), Canadian Journal of Philosophy.
Gerald Gaus, “Coercion, Ownership, and the Redistributive State: Justificatory Liberalism’s Classical Tilt” (2010), Social Philosophy & Policy.
