POL113H5 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Class Conflict, Mao Zedong, Proletariat
Document Summary
Liberalism was initially developed based on the concept of modernity; which argued that individuals are free and equal, and their rights and liberty should be protected. Liberalism was the first ideology of modernity and provided the view that individuals are free (46). Classic liberalism had emerged from the era of feudalism, where individual"s rights were not acknowledged and authority was in the hands of the church and monarch of the time. Initial ideas of liberalism came from the individualistic conception of nature of human kind, which was described by john locke and thomas hobbes. Hobbes described life without a government to be brutal, due to the fact that individuals would be selfish entities and would fight, maybe even kill, for power and wealth (51). Whereas, locke believed that individuals have the ability to cooperate based on the principle of mutual benefit, however their tendency to acquire wealth can lead to competition especially in a market based society (53).
