The Classical Liberal Tradition
A Thematic Collection of articles from the Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008)

[Created: 13 August, 2024] [Updated: 22 August, 2024]

The Classical Liberal / Libertarian Tradition

This page is part of a collection which deals with the history of the classical liberal / liberterian tradition. It includes university courses I have taught, lectures, study guides, blog posts, anthologies I have compiled, and many papers and essays. For more information see this page. The image on the left is Titian's the punishment of “Sisyphus” (1548-49).

Introduction

The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, ed. Ronald Hamowy (Los Angeles: Sage, 2008. A Project of the Cato Institute).

The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008) is an outstanding introduction to the theory and history of the classical liberal or libertarian tradition. When it first appeared online it retained the structure of the published book version. It has since been merged into the broader libertarianism.org website, which is great pity in my view.

I have reorganised the articles in the EoL in order to make them easier to use. The first version reorganised the entire Table of Contents to make it easier to browse among the entries categorises into "People," "Ideas,", "Movements", "Historical Events and Documents," "Policy Issues," and "Other Topics." The second version (this one here) provides a survey of both the key ideas of the CLT and the history of the main movements and individuals who were involved in its development. I did this in order to fit better with the lectures I have developed over the years on The Classical Liberal Tradition: A 400 Year History of People, Ideas, and Movements for Reform. For those interested in learning more I suggest the following approach:

• begin with the survey by Steve Davies’ “General Introduction,” pp. xxv-xxxvii
• then read a selection of articles from the following lists according to your interest. Items in quotes are entries in the EoL.
• you can then turn to my collection of Quotations about Liberty and Power (organised thematically) and the Reader on Individual, Economic, and Political Liberty to explore these ideas further.

 

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Key Ideas in the Classical Liberal Tradition

Basic Principles:

• Individual Liberty
  • “ Civil Society”
  • “ Individual Rights” & “Equality” (of rights)
  • “Freedom” & “ Individualism, Political and Ethical”
  • “Presumption of Liberty”
• Private Property
  • “ Private Property”

Grounds for Belief:

• Natural Law and Natural Rights
  • “Natural Law” & “Natural Rights”
  • “Theories of Rights”
• Utility
  • “ Utilitarianism”

Processes for Creating a Free Society:

• Idea of Spontaneous Order
  • “ Spontaneous Order”
• The Non-Aggression Principle
  • “ Nonaggression Axiom”
• Peace
  • “Peace and Pacifism”

Political and Legal Freedoms:

• Limited Government
  • “Constitutionalism” & “Limited Government”
  • “Bill of Rights, U.S.” & “ Federalism”
  • “Minimal State” & “ State”
  • “Anarchism” & “ Anarcho-Capitalism”
• Rule of Law
  • “Rule of Law”
  • “ Coercion” & “ Constitutionalism”
  • “Common Law” & “ Law Merchant”
• Freedom of Speech & Religion, Toleration
  • “Conscience” (liberty of)
  • “Cosmopolitanism”
  • “Religion and Liberty” & “Separation of Church and State”
• Right of Freedom of Movement
  • “Right of Revolution” & “ Secessionism”
  • Freedom of Movement - Emigration & “Immigration”

Economic Freedoms:

• Free Markets
  • “ Capitalism”
  • “ Laissez-Faire Policy” & “ Competition”
  • “ Division of Labor”
  • “ Entrepreneurship” & “ Free-Market Economy”
• Free Trade
  • “ Free Trade”
  • “ Natural Harmony of Interests”
• Progress
  • “Economic Development”
  • “ Material Progress”
  • “ Progress”
  • "The Industrial Revolution"

Social Freedoms:

• Equality under the Law - “Equality” (of rights)
• Toleration of different Ideas and Behaviour (see Freedom of Speech & Religion above)
• Acts between Consenting Adults - “Presumption of Liberty”

Key Movements and People in the CLT

• The Ancient World
  • “ Liberty in the Ancient World”
  • “ Epicureanism”
• Medieval Period
  • “ Magna Carta”
  • “ Scholastics/School of Salamanca”
• Reformation & Renaissance
  • “Classical Republicanism”; " La Boétie, Étienne de (1530-1563)"
  • “ Dutch Republic”
• The 17th Century
  • “ English Civil Wars”; “The Levellers”; “John Milton” & “ Puritanism”
  • “Glorious Revolution”; “John Locke”; "Shaftesbury, Third Earl of (1671-1713)"; “Algernon Sidney”; “ Whiggism”
• The 18th Century
  • 18thC Commonwealthmen - “ Cato's Letters”
  • The Scottish Enlightenment; “ Enlightenment”; “Adam Smith”, “Adam Ferguson” & “David Hume”
  • The French Enlightenment; “ Physiocracy”; “Turgot”; “Montesquieu” & “Voltaire”
  • “American Revolution”; “ Declaration of Independence”; “Thomas Jefferson” & “Thomas Paine”; “ Constitution, U.S.”; “James Madison”; “ Bill of Rights, US”
  • “ French Revolution”; “ Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen”
• The 19th Century
  • “Classical Liberalism” - the English School; “ Philosophic Radicals”; “ Utilitarianism”; “Jeremy Bentham”; “Classical Economics”; “John Stuart Mill”
  • “Classical Liberalism” - the French School; “Jean-Baptiste Say”; "Destutt de Tracy"; “Benjamin Constant”; “Charles Comte”; “Charles Dunoyer”; “Frédéric Bastiat”; “Gustave de Molinari”; "Tocqueville, Alexis de (1805-1859)"
  • "German Classical Liberalism"; "Immanuel Kant"; "Wilhelm von Humboldt"
  • Free Trade Movement; “ Anti-Corn Law League”; “John Bright”; “Richard Cobden”
  • “ Feminism and Women's Rights”; “Mary Wollstonecraft”; “Condorcet”
  • Abolition of Slavery - “Abolitionism”; “William Wilberforce”; “William Lloyd Garrison”; “John Brown”; “Frederick Douglass”; “Lysander Spooner”
  • The Radical Individualists; “Thomas Hodgskin”, “Herbert Spencer”, “Auberon Herbert”
  • The “Austrian School of Economics” I; 1st generation - “Carl Menger”, “Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk”; interwar years - “Ludwig von Mises”, “Friedrich Hayek”
• Post-World War 2 Renaissance of CL
  • “ Mont Pelerin Society” - “Friedrich Hayek”, “Milton Friedman”, “Karl Popper”, “James Buchanan”
  • Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) & “Antony Fisher”
  • Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) & “Leonard Read”
  • Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) & “F.A. Harper”
  • The Austrian School of Economics II; post-WW2 2nd generation - “Ludwig von Mises”, “Friedrich Hayek”, “Murray N. Rothbard”, “Israel Kirzner”
  • “Chicago School of Economics” & “Milton Friedman”
  • “Objectivism” & “Ayn Rand”
  • “Public Choice Economics” & “James Buchanan”
  • " Law and Economics"