Classical Liberalism: An Overview

[Political Spectrum - New "Left-Right"]

[Political Spectrum - CL State]

[Simplified Nolan Chart]

[Australian Four Way Political Matrix]

Some Recent Additions

Blog posts:

1. “On Making the Argument/s for Liberty” (10 July, 2022)
2. “The “Big Picture”: Part 1" (7 July 2022)
3. “The “Big Picture”: Part 2” (7 July 2022)
4. “Liberty as the Sum of All Freedoms” (26 April, 2022)
5. “Twelve Key Concepts of Liberty” (25 Apr., 2022)
6. “A Balance Sheet of the Success and Failures of Classical Liberalism" (21 Apr. 2022)
7. “On the (im)Possibility of finding a “Third Way” between Liberalism and Socialism” (19 April, 2022)
8. “The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism” (19 April, 2022)
9. “Plotting Liberty: The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism and the Need for a New ‘Left-Right’ Political Spectrum” (17 April, 2022)
10. “The History of the “Great Liberal Emancipation” 1750-1914” (5 January, 2022)
11. an updated version of my “History of the Classical Liberal Tradition in a Nutshell” (or in this version, 1,730 words): “The History of Classical Liberalism in 1730 words (and one picture)” [originally posted Aug. 2021]
12. “The Classical Liberal Tradition: A 400 Year History of Ideas and Movements. An Introductory Reading List” (20 May, 2021)
13. The State of the Libertarian Movement after 50 Years (1970-2020): Some Observations (25 March, 2021)
14. "One Volume Surveys of Classical Liberal Thought" (11 Jan. 2021)
15. The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism (2008) (6 December, 2020)

Talks and Lectures

• Talk on “Plotting Liberty: The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism and the Need for a New ‘Left-Right’ Political Spectrum” - PDF of blog post: PDF of slides

Some Places to Start

• see my overview: "An Introduction to the Classical Liberal Tradition: Theory and History"
• a list of my collection of 600 Quotations about Liberty and Power organised by topic. I compiled this collection over a 14 period 2004-2018 for the Liberty Fund's Online Library of Liberty of which I was the founding Director. It was designed to show the range of thinking about 30 or so key topics. I wrote all the comments which accompany the quotes. This list is of the titles of the quotes only. To read the full quotation and my comments follow the link provided back to the OLL website.
• my lecture for the Centre for Independent Studies "Liberty and Society" Conference (6-8 May, 2022) on "The Classical Liberal Tradition: A Four Hundred Year History of Ideas and Movements"
• lecture slides [PDF]
• lecture summary (text format) here and at my blog here
• with about 30 blog posts of supporting material and short essays listed below.
• A Concept Map showing the key ideas of the Classical Liberal tradition [PDF] and [JPG]
• "An Introduction to the Classical Liberal Tradition: People, Ideas, and Movements". A talk given at the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, Perth (30 January, 2020). The PDF of my overheads and some Further Reading.
• A lecture on "The Classical Liberal Tradition - A History of Ideas and Movements over 400 Years" given at the IHS in June 2015 - outline and readings
• List of recommended readings from the Encyclopedia of Libertarianism on the Key Ideas of Classical Liberal Thought and Key Individuals and Movements. More readings.
• A History of Classical Liberalism in Three Parts
  • Part 1: Twelve Key Concepts of the Classical Liberal Tradition
  • Part 2: Ideological Movements and Key Political Events
  • Part 3: Quotations from Key Texts Illustrating Classical Liberal Ideas
• a couple of papers on strategy for achieving CL change:
  • “On the Spread of (Classical) Liberal Ideas: Some Thoughts on Strategy” (Feb. 2015) and
  • "Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Scribblers: An Austrian Analysis of the Structure of Production and Distribution of Ideas" (Nov. 2015).
• my collection of Images of Liberty and Powe

A More Detailed Survey in Three Lectures and Many Blog Posts

“The Classical Liberal Tradition: A Four Hundred Year History of Ideas and Movements” here

An Overview

1. “The History of Classical Liberalism in 1,730 words (and one picture)” (11 Aug. 2021) here. [Revised 12 Apr. 2022.]
2. “The Classical Liberal Tradition – A 400 Year History Of Ideas And Movements: Lecture/Seminar Outline” (22 Apr. 2022) here
3. “Twelve Key Concepts of Liberty” (25 Apr. 2022) here
4. “Liberty as the Sum of All Freedoms” (26 April, 2022) here

Recommended Reading

1. “The Classical Liberal Tradition: A 400 Year History of Ideas and Movements. An Introductory Reading List” (20 May, 2021) here [Updated: 22 Apr. 2022]
2. “One Volume Surveys of Classical Liberal Thought” (11 Jan. 2021) here

The Many Faces of Liberalism:

1. “The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism” (19 April, 2022) here
2. “Plotting Liberty: The Multi-Dimensionality of Classical Liberalism and the Need for a New ‘Left-Right’ Political Spectrum” Reflections on Liberty and Power (17 April, 2022) here
3. “ ‘Hyphenated’ Liberalism and the Problem of Definition” (9 Aug. 2021) here
4. “Hyphenated Liberalism Part II: Utopian, Democratic, Revolutionary, and State Liberalism” (12 Oct. 2021) here
5. “The Conservative and Revolutionary Faces of Classical Liberalism” (11 Aug. 2021) here
6. “How Modern Day CL/Libertarians Differ From “Classical” Classical Liberals” (24 Aug. 2021) here
7. “The Incoherence and Contradictions inherent in Modern Liberal Parties (and one in particular)” (21 Oct. 2021) here
8. “The Myth of a liberal ‘Australian Way of Life’” (20 June 2021) here
9. “On the (im)Possibility of finding a “Third Way” between Liberalism and Socialism” (19 Apr. 2022) here

Classical Liberals on the Role and Power of the State:

1. “The Spectrum of State Power: or a New Way of Looking at the Political Spectrum” (10 Aug., 2021) here. [Updated: 25 Apr. 2022.]
2. “Classical Liberals on the Size and Functions of the State” (10 Aug. 2021) here. [Updated: 25 Apr. 2022.]

What CLs were FOR and AGAINST:

1. “What Classical Liberals were Against” (12 Aug. 2021) here
2. “The Key Ideas of Classical Liberalism: Foundations, Processes, Liberties” (23 June, 2015) here - revised version 26 Apr. 2022 here).
3. “What Classical Liberals were For” (13 Aug. 2021) here
4. “What CLs were For – Part 2: Ends and Means” (19 Oct., 2021) here

CL Visions of the Future Free Society:

1. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future I” (27 August, 2021) here
2. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future II: The Contribution of Gustave de Molinari (1819-1912)” (29 Aug. 2021) here
3. “Classical Liberal Visions of the Future III: Liberal Experiments, Frameworks, and Archipelagos” (11 Oct. 2021) here
4. “Hayek on a Liberal Utopia” (11 Sept. 2021) here

CL Movements and Crusades for Liberty:

1. “Classical Liberal Movements: A Four Hundred Year History” (17 Aug. 2021) here
2. “Classical Liberalism as a Revolutionary Ideology of Emancipation” (13 Oct. 2021) here
3. “Classical Liberalism as the Philosophy of Emancipation II: The “True Radical Liberalism” of Peter Boettke” (17 Oct. 2021) here

CL’s Successes and Failures:

1. “The Success of Liberal Ideas has led to the Decline of Radical Liberal Parties” (6 Sept. 2021) here
2. “A Balance Sheet of the Success and Failures of Classical Liberalism” (21 Apr. 2022) here