The Bastiat Monument in Mugron, 1878

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(A Monument erected to the memory of Bastiat was unveiled in Mugron, 23 April, 1878.)

After Bastiat’s death on Christmas Eve 1850 his friend Prosper Paillottet went through Bastiat’s papers in order to get them organized for a printing of his collected works. Six volumes of the first edition appeared in 1854-55. A second edition with an additional 7th volume appeared in 1862-64 and it was this edition which was reprinted several times during the 19th century. Many of Bastiat’s other single volume works were kept in print by the Guillaumin publishing firm during this time as well, especially the Economic Harmonies. His friends and colleagues wanted to do more for his memory than to just keep his books in print. It was decided to raise money (privately of course) to design a statue of him which would be erected in his home town of Mugron. The illustration on the cover of volume 1 of Liberty Fund’s edition of his Collected Works shows a postcard of the Place Bastiat in the town of Mugron where the statue was displayed.

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The Key Ideas of Classical Liberalism: Foundations, Processes, Liberties

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[Note: This post is part of a series on the History of the Classical Liberal Tradition]

This idea map is designed to give you an overview of what I think are the essential features of the classical liberal tradition as it has evolved over the past 400 years.

See my Study Guides on the Classical Liberal Tradition for more details.

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The Grounds of CL Ideas

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The Basic Principles

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The foundations for these beliefs are based upon the following:

  • the basic principles
    • life
    • liberty
    • property
  • the philosophical grounds for belief
    • natural law (God’s Law) and natural rights
    • utility

The Processes for Achieving and Sustaining a Free Society

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The processes by which these principles are carried out/put into practice; how people interact with each other

  • the non-aggression principle
  • voluntary cooperation
  • toleration
  • free movement of people, goods, & ideas
  • individual flourishing
  • peaceful coexistence with others
  • arbitration of disputes
  • spontaneous orders

Liberty as “the sum of all freedoms”

Liberty should be seen as a “bundle” or “cluster” of freedoms which together make up what is “Liberty”. Bastiat stated it in this way:

And what is liberty, this word that has the power of making all hearts beat faster and causing agitation around the world, if it is not the sum of all freedoms: freedom of conscience, teaching, and association; freedom of the press; freedom to travel, work, and trade; in other words, the free exercise of all inoffensive faculties by all men and, in still other terms, the destruction of all despotic regimes, even legal despotism, and the reduction of the law to its sole rational attribution, which is to regulate the individual law of legitimate defense or to punish injustice.

Source: Frédéric Bastiat on LIBERTY as the sum of all freedoms (1850) – quote from The Law (June 1850)

LIBERTY is compromised of three main bundles of freedoms:

  • political/legal freedoms
    • limited (no) government
    • the rule of law
    • freedom speech and association (religion)
    • right of exit/entry (movement or new govt)
  • economic freedoms:
    • domestic free markets
    • international free trade
    • laissez-faire
    • progress
  • social freedoms
    • equality under the law
    • toleration of different ideas and behaviour
    • acts between consenting adults

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About this Blog

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This blog contains the thoughts and musings of David Hart concerning the classical liberal tradition, war and the state, and film and art. His main website contains his research and a growing library of books in the classical liberal tradition. See the most recent additions.

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[David contemplating the move back to Sydney.]

For more information see his CV (2019), a description of his Areas of Expertise and Scholarly Activity (PDF) and his LinkedIn page.

See the list of recent books, papers, talks, and lectures at my website.

For an explanation of the banner image of Picasso’s “Guernica, see this page.

One Volume Surveys of the CL Tradition

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When did theorists become self-conscious that they were advocating a unique, consistent and all-encompassing liberal worldview (Weltanschauung) which could be articulated in one volume; that their ideas were interconnected, were based upon a well thought out set of fundamental principles, and resulted in a comprehensive set of proposals for liberal reform?

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Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835)

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