POLS 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Individualism, Social Progress, Freethought
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Lecture #12 liberalism - october 22, 2015. Diverse meanings of liberalism is it meaningful as a term? (exam example question) Much of it is covered already in the course: democracy, state, etc. Meaning of liberal is not exactly the same as liberalism: can denote free-thinking, modern, Difficult to see - too familiar generous, tolerant, broad-minded, or general (e. g. liberal education) Confusion especially in u. s. usage of term because they tend to put it more to the left, instead of the centre. The names of ideologies are not associated with particular political parties. New faith in reason and science , the possibility of advance and discovery (reason will drive society forward. Can cure diseases through the advancement in science) With this, came the notion of a social contract government as a consequence of human reason (if both sides don"t benefit, why bother with the contract?) Contracts benefit both parties that enter into them. Liberalism and human nature (beliefs of all humans)