This is a partial list of individual contributions to liberal political theory on a worldwide scale. These individuals are strongly associated philosophers of the Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy. It included the ideas of self-determination, the primacy of the individual and the nation, as opposed to the family and the state, as being the fundamental units of law, politics and economy.

Since then liberalism has broadened to include a wide range of approaches from Americans Ronald Dworkin, Richard Rorty, John Rawls and Francis Fukuyama as well as the Indian Amartya Sen, the Peruvian Hernando de Soto and the Belgian Dirk Verhofstadt. Some of these people moved away from liberalism, while others espoused other ideologies before turning to liberalism. There are many different views of what constitutes liberalism, and some liberals would feel that some of the people on this list were not true liberals. It is intended to be suggestive rather than exhaustive. Theorists whose ideas were mainly typical for one country should be listed in that country's section of liberalism worldwide. Generally only thinkers are listed, politicians are only listed when they, beside their active political work, also made substantial contributions to liberal theory.

It is the intention to add one or two lines of information on the theorists explaining why they are on the list with reference to the works important in this matter. More comprehensive articles can be found by clicking on the thinkers name.

The list is divided in three sections:

• Proto-liberal contributors
• From Locke to Mill
• Mill and further, the development of (international) liberalism

The following people are included:

Classical Contributors to Liberalism

Laozi

Laozi (China, 6th Century BC) is the author of the classic Chinese text, the Tao Te Ching, and the founder of Taoist philosophy. A common theme that runs throughout the Tao Te Ching is that the ruler should not meddle with society; instead, the people should be left to their own devices. For example, speaking of the government in chapter 58 he wrote, "That which is meddling, touching everything, will work but ill, and disappointment bring. For Laozi, the happiness of the individual was the primary goal of society. The Taoist concept of wei wu wei, "do without doing", is somewhat similar to the later Western concept of laissez-faire, "let do".

Aristotle

Aristotle (Athens, 384 BC - 322 BC) is revered among political theorists for his seminal work Politics. Though Aristotle never mentioned rights, and even supported slavery, he made invaluable contributions to liberal theory through his observations on different forms of government.

He begins with the idea that the best government provides an active and "happy" life for its people. Aristotle then considers six forms of government: Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Polity on one side as 'good' forms of government, and Tyranny, Oligarchy, and Democracy as 'bad' forms. Considering each in turn, Aristotle rejects Monarchy as infantilizing of citizens, Oligarchy as too profit-motivated, Tyranny as against the will of the people, Democracy as serving only to the poor, and Aristocracy (known today as Meritocracy) as ideal but ultimately impossible. Aristotle finally concludes that a polity—a combination between democracy and oligarchy, where most can vote but must choose among the rich and virtuous for governors—is the best compromise between idealism and realism.

In addition, Aristotle was a firm supporter of private property. He refuted Plato's argument for a collectivist society in which family and property are held in common: Aristotle makes the argument that when one's own son or land is rightfully one's own, one puts much more effort into cultivating that item, to the ultimate betterment of society. He references barbarian tribes of his time in which property was held in common, and the laziest of the bunch would always take away large amounts of food grown by the most diligent.

"Humanism"

Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccolò Machiavelli (Florence, 1469-1527), best known for his Il Principe was the founder of realist political philosophy, advocated republican government, citizen armies, division of power, protection of personal property, and restraint of government expenditure as being necessary to the liberties of a republic. He wrote extensively on the need for individual initiative - virtu - as an essential characteristic of stable government. He argued that liberty was the central good which government should protect, and that "good people" would make good laws, where as people who had lost their virtu could maintain their liberties only with difficulty. His Discourses on Livy outlined realism as the central idea of political study and favored "Republics" over "Principalties".

Anti-statist liberals consider Machiavelli's distrust as his main message, noting his call for a strong state under a strong leader, who should use any means to establish his position, whereas liberalism is an ideology of individual freedom and voluntary choices.

However, many people reductively associate Machiavelli as a proponent of the illiberal idea that "the end justifies the means".

• Contributing literature:
• Il Principe, 1513 (The Prince, )
• Discorsi sopra la prima deca di Tito Livio, 1512-1517 (Discourse on the First Decade of Titus Livius)

Desiderius Erasmus

Desiderius Erasmus (Netherlands, 1466-1536) was an advocate of the doctrine now known as humanism, critic of entrenched interests, irrationality and superstition. Erasmusian societies formed across Europe, to some extent in response to the turbulence of the Reformation. He dealt with the freedom of the will, a crucial point. In his De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio (1524), he analyzes with great cleverness and good humour the Lutheran exaggeration of the obvious limitations on human freedom.

• Contributing literature
• Lof der Zotheid, 1509 (The Praise of Folly, )
• De libero arbitrio diatribe sive collatio, 1524

Hugo Grotius

Hugo Grotius or Hugo de Groot (Netherlands, 1583-1645), laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law, in his book Mare Liberum (Free Seas) formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring trade, and in De jure belli ac pacis libri tres (Three books on laws of war and peace) presented a theory of just war and argued that all nations are bound by the principles of natural law.

Thomas Hobbes

Thomas Hobbes (England, 1588-1679) theorized that government is the result of individual actions and human traits, and that it was motivated primarily by "interest", a term which would become crucial in the development of a liberal theory of government and political economy, since it is the foundation of the idea that individuals can be self-governing and self-regulating. His work Leviathan, did not advocate this viewpoint, but instead that only a strong government could restrain unchecked interest: it did, however, advance a proto-liberal position in arguing for an inalienable "right of nature," the right to defend oneself, even against the state. Though it is problematic to classify Hobbes himself as a liberal, his work influenced Locke, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison and many other later liberals, leading Strauss to indentify Hobbes as the "father of liberalism".

Baruch Spinoza

Baruch Spinoza (Netherlands, 1632-1677) is in his Tractatus Theologico-Politicus and Tractatus Politicus a proto-liberal defending the value of separation of church and state as well as forms of democracy. In the first mentioned book, Spinoza expresses an early criticism of religious intolerance and a defense of secular government. Spinoza was a thoroughgoing determinist who held that absolutely everything that happens occurs through the operation of necessity. For him, even human behaviour is fully determined, freedom being our capacity to know we are determined and to understand why we act as we do. So freedom is not the possibility to say "no" to what happens to us but the possibility to say "yes" and fully understand why things should necessarily happen that way.

• Contributing literature:
• Tractatus Theologico-Politicus, 1670 (Theologico-Political Treatise, )
• Tractatus Politicus, 1677 (Political Treatise)

From Locke to Mill

John Locke

The notions of John Locke (United Kingdom, 1632-1704) of a "government with the consent of the governed" and man's natural rights—life, liberty, and estate (property) as well on tolerance, as laid down in A letter concerning toleration and Two treatises of government —had an enormous influence on the development of liberalism. Developed a theory of property resting on the actions of individuals, rather than on descent or nobility. One could argue that liberal theory starts with Locke, influenced by the proto-liberal contributions listed above.

• Some literature:
• A Letter Concerning Toleration, 1689
• The Second Treatise of Civil Government, 1689

John Trenchard

John Trenchard (United Kingdom, 1662-1723) was co-author, with Thomas Gordon of Cato's Letters. These newspaper essays condemned tyranny and advanced principles of freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and were a main vehicle for spreading the concepts that had been developed by John Locke.

• Some literature:
• Cato's Letters / John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon, 1720-1723

Charles de Montesquieu

Charles de Montesquieu (France, 1689-1755)

• Some literature:
• De l'esprit des lois,1748 (The Spirit of the Laws) )
• Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (together with others), 1751-1772 {Encyclopaedia, or Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades )

Thomas Gordon

Thomas Gordon (United Kingdom, 169?-1750) was co-author, with John Trenchard of Cato's Letters. These newspaper essays condemned tyranny and advanced principles of freedom of conscience and freedom of speech and were a main vehicle for spreading the concepts that had been developed by John Locke.

• Some literature:
• Cato's Letters / John Trenchard & Thomas Gordon, 1720-1723

François Quesnay

François Quesnay (France, 1694-1774)

• Some literature:
• Tableau économique, 1758
• Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (together with others), 1751-1772 {Encyclopaedia, or Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades )

Voltaire

Voltaire (France, 1694-1778)

• Some literature:
• Lettres Philosophiques sur les Anglais, 1734 (Philosophical Letters on the English)
• Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (together with others), 1751-1772 {Encyclopaedia, or Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades )
• Essai sur l'histoire génerale et sur les moeurs et l'espirit des nations, 1756 (Essay on the Manner and Spirit of Nations and on the Principal Occurrences in History)
• Traité sur la Tolérance à l'occasion de la mort de Jean Calas, 1763 (Treatise on Toleration In Connection with the Death of Jean Calas)
• Dictionnaire Philosophique, 1764 (Philosophical Dictionary)

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (United States, 1706-1790) was an inventor, scientist, writer, entrepreneur, diplomat and statesman. He called for the end of mercantilism while advocating free trade, industrialization, the abolition of slavery, free public libraries, democratic government and national unity. His Autobiography is also a seminal work on the life of a free individual who is self-governing in his pursuit of accomplishment, without need for an over-arching state, allegiance or religion to force adherence to basic moral and ethical principles.

• Some literature:
• "Progress of true science," a letter to Joseph Priestley, 1780, perhaps Franklin's most radical (but brief) work, emphasizing radical ideas that are centuries ahead of his time related to natural scientific inquiry, morality and humanity.

David Hume

David Hume (United Kingdom, 1711-1776)

• Some literature:
• An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, 1751

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (France, 1712-1778) promulgated the idea that men were naturally free, but had to be educated to live in society. This required a natural liberty and a "national will" which could be directed to improvement of the society. He is famous for the quote "men are born free, but are everywhere in chains", and urging that Europeans throw off the restrictions that they lived under, and substitute, instead, a self-governing moral basis.

However, Rousseau's ideal society was not quite liberal: he advocated an unhindered power of the sovereign over the property of the individual and he opposed private ownership.

• Some literature:
• Du Contrat Social, 1762 (The Social Contract )

Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot (France, 1713-1784)

• Some literature:
• Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (together with others), 1751-1772 {Encyclopaedia, or Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades )

Jean le Rond d'Alembert

Jean le Rond d'Alembert (France, 1717-1783)

• Some literature:
• Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (together with others), 1751-1772 {Encyclopaedia, or Reasoned Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Trades )

Samuel Adams

Samuel Adams (United States, 1722-1803)

Richard Price

Richard Price (United Kingdom, 1723-1791)

• Some literature:
• Appeal to the Public on the Subject of the National Debt, 1771
• Observations on Reversionary Payments, 1771
• Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America, 1776

Anders Chydenius

Anders Chydenius (Finland (then a part of the Swedish realm), 1729-1803) His book Den Nationale Winsten (engl. The National Gain) proposed roughly same the ideas as Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, a decade earlier, including foundations of liberalism and capitalism and (roughly) the invisible hand. He demanded complete economic and individual freedom, including the freedom of religion (although he was a priest), worker's rights to freely move and choose their professions and employers, the freedom of speech and trade and abolitions of all privileges and price and wage controls.

He was also a member of the Swedish four-estates parliament, elected three times as representative of the clergy in the northern and western parts of Finland. In his first parliamentary session, 1765-66, he was very successful as a member of the subcommittee that wrote Swedens famous Constitutional Law of the Freedom of Printing, Tryckfrihetsförordningen, of 1766. In this law Chydenius combined freedom of the press, and abolishment of the political censorship, with free access for the citizens to most government documents. Chydenius liberal system, where transparency reinforces press freedom, and the right for everyone to print the public document reinforces transparency, has been a fundamental constitutional principle in Sweden ever since, except for the years of royal autocracy 1772-1809. Chydenius model for press freedom and freedom of information was reestablished and strengthened in the Swedish Constitution 1809. It is now the foundation of the present Tryckfrihetsförordningen of 1949, which is one of the fundamental laws of Sweden.

In diluted form, and without the strong constitutional protection of the Swedish free press model, the principle of free access to public documents that originated in Chydenius law of 1766, has in recent decades been spread from Sweden to the Freedom of Information Acts of many countries. This way, Anders Chydenius, has become one of the older liberal thinkers that has most practical influence on politics and public administration of modern western societies.

An edition of Anders Chydenius Complete Works, in Finnish, Swedish and English, in under preparation by the Chydenius Foundation in Finland.

• Some literature:
• Americanska Näfwerbåtar, 1753 (American birchbark canoes)
• Källan Til Rikets Wan-Magt, 1765 (The cause of the weakness of the Kingdom)
• Den Nationnale Winsten, 1765 (The National Gain) )

Adam Smith

Adam Smith (United Kingdom, 1723-1790), often considered the founder of modern economics, was a key figure in formulating and advancing economic doctrine of free trade and competition. In his Wealth of Nations Adam Smith outlined the key idea that if the economy is basically left to its own devices, limited and finite resources will be put to ultimately their most efficient use through people acting purely in their self interest. This he called the invisible hand of the market.

Smith also advanced property rights and personal civil liberties, including stopping slavery, which today partly form the basic liberal ideology.

• Some literature:
• An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776
• The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759

William Blackstone

Sir William Blackstone (United Kingdom 1723-1780)

• Some literature:
• Commentaries on the Laws of England

Immanuel Kant

Immanuel Kant (Germany, 1724-1804)

• Some literature:
• Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, 1785 (Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals )
• Kritik der praktischen Vernunft, 1788 (Critique of Practical Reason )
• Über den Gemeinspruch: Das mag in der Theorie richtig sein, taugt aber nicht für die Praxis, 1793 (On the common saying: this may be true in theory but it does not apply in practice)
• Zum ewigen Frieden, 1795 (Perpetual Peace )
• Metaphysik der Sitten, 1797 (Metaphysics of Morals )

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot

Anne Robert Jacques Turgot (France, 1727-1781)

• Some literature:
• Le Conciliateur, 1754
• Lettre sur la tolérance civile, 1754
• Réflexions sur la formation et la distribution des richesses, 1766
• Lettres sur la liberté du commerce des grains, 1770

Edmund Burke

Edmund Burke (United Kingdom 1729-1797, Whig politician) contributed to liberal theory by emphasizing the importance of rationality in politics, self-interest as the basis for government and moderation against extremes. He is also considered important for his contributions to Conservatism because of his belief in respect for tradition.

• Some literature:
• Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents 1770
• On American Taxation 1774
• On Conciliation with the Colonies 1775
• Speech to the Electors of Bristol 1774
• Reflections on the Revolution in France 1790

Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley (United Kingdom/United States, 1733-1804)

• Some literature:
• Essay on the First Principles of Government, 1768
• The Present State of Liberty in Great Britain and her Colonies, 1769
• Remarks on Dr Blackstone's Commentaries, 1769
• Observations on Civil Liberty and the Nature and Justice of the War with America, 1772

August Ludwig von Schlözer

August Ludwig von Schlözer (Germany, 1735-1809)

Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry (United States, 1736-1799)

• Some literature:
• Liberty or Death, 1775

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine (United Kingdom/United States, 1737-1809)

• Some literature:
• Rights of Man, 1791-1792

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson (United States, 1743-1826) was the third President of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. He also wrote Notes on the State of Virginia. He was a champion of inalienable individual rights and the separation of church and state. His ideas were repeated in many other liberal revolutions around the world, including the (early) French Revolution.

Marquis de Condorcet

Marquis de Condorcet (France, 1743-1794)

• Some literature:
• Esquisse d'un tableau historique des progrés de l'esprit humain, 1795 (Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind)

Jeremy Bentham

Jeremy Bentham (United Kingdom, 1748-1832) An early advocate of utilitarianism, animal welfare and women's rights. He had many students all around the world, including John Stuart Mill and several political leaders. Bentham demanded economic and individual freedom, including the separation of the state and church, freedom of expression, completely equal rights for women, the end of slavery and colonialism, uniform democracy, the abolition of physical punishment, also on children, the right for divorce, free prices, free trade and no restrictions on interest. Bentham was not a libertarian: he supported inheritance tax, restrictions on monopoly power, pensions, health insurance and other social security, but called for prudence and careful consideration in any such governmental intervention.

Emmanuel Sieyès

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (France, 1748-1836) played an important role in the opening years of the French Revolution, drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, expanding on the theory of national sovereignty, popular sovereignty, and representation implied in his pamphlet What is the Third Estate.

James Madison

James Madison (United States, 1751-1836) was co-Author, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay of The Federalist Papers, and one of the architects of both the American Constitution of 1787, as well as the Bill of Rights (1789). Later President of the United States (1809-1817).

• Some literature:
• Federalist Papers / Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison, 1787
• Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments, 1785

Destutt de Tracy

Destutt de Tracy (1754–1836) He was born in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (United States, 1755-1804)

• Some literature:
• Federalist Papers / Alexander Hamilton, John Jay & James Madison, 1787

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël

Anne Louise Germaine de Staël (France, 1766-1817)

• Some literature:
• De l’influence des passions sur le bonheur des individus et des nations, 1796
• Des circonstances actuelles qui peuvent terminer la Révolution et des principes qui doivent fonder la république en France, 1798
• Considérations sur les principaux événements de la révolution française, 1813
• Appel aux souverains réunis à Paris pour en obtenir l’abolition de la traite des nègres, 1814

Benjamin Constant

Benjamin Constant (France, 1767-1830)

• Some literature:
• De l'esprit de conquête et l'usurpation (On the spirit of conquest and on usurpation), 1814
• "The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns," 1816

Jean-Baptiste Say

Jean-Baptiste Say (France, 1767-1832)

• Some literature:
• Traité d'économie politique (Treatise on Political Economy), 1803

Wilhelm von Humboldt

Wilhelm von Humboldt (Germany, 1767-1835)

• Some literature:
• Ideen zu einem Versuch, die Grenzen der Wirksamkeit des Staats zu bestimmen (On the Limits of State Action), 1792

David Ricardo

David Ricardo (United Kingdom, 1772-1823)

James Mill

James Mill (United Kingdom, 1773-1836)

• Some literature:
• Elements of Political Economy, 1821

José María Luis Mora

José María Luis Mora (Mexico, 1794-1850)

• Some literature:
• ''Méjico y sus revoluciones', 1836

Frédéric Bastiat

Frédéric Bastiat (France, 1801-1850)

• Some literature:
• La Loi (The Law), 1849
• Harmonies économiques (Economic Harmonies), 1850
• Ce qu'on voit et ce qu'on ne voit pas (What is Seen and What is Not Seen), 1850

Johan Rudolf Thorbecke

The Dutch statesman Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (Netherlands, 1798-1872) was the main theorist of Dutch liberalism in the nineteenth century, outlining a more democratic alternative to the absolute monarchy, the constitutional monarchy. The constitution of 1848 was mainly his work. His main theoretical article specifically labeled as 'liberal' was Over het hedendaagsche staatsburgerschap (on modern citizenship) from 1844. He became prime minister in 1849, thus starting numerous fundamental reforms in Dutch politics.

Harriet Martineau

Harriet Martineau (United Kingdom, 1802-1876)

• Some literature:
• Illustrations of Political Economy, 1832-1834
• Theory and Practice of Society in America, 1837
• The Martyr Age of the United States, 1839

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson (United States, 1803-1882) was an American philosopher who argued that the basic principles of government were mutable, and that government is required only insofar as people are not self-governing. Proponent of Democracy, and of the idea that a democratic people must have a democratic ethics.

• Some literature:
• Self-Reliance
• Circles
• Politics
• The Nominalist and the Realist

Alexis de Tocqueville

Alexis de Tocqueville (France, 1805-1859)

• Some literature:
• De La Démocratie en Amérique, 1831-1840 (Democracy in America, )
• L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution, 1856

William Lloyd Garrison

William Lloyd Garrison (United States, 1805-1879)

• Some literature:
• Articles advocating abolition of slavery in the newspaperThe Liberator, 1831-1866

Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller (Germany, 1759-1805)

Mill and further, the development of (international) liberalism

See for the somewhat different development of an American liberalism after World War II the section on American liberal theory. American liberal theorists who also had influence on liberalism outside the United States are included in this section.

John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill (United Kingdom, 1806-1873) is one of the first champions of modern "liberalism." As such, his work on political economy and logic helped lay the foundation for advancements in empirical science and public policy based on verifiable improvements. Strongly influenced by Bentham's utilitarianism, he disagrees with Kant's intuitive notion of right and formulates the "highest normative principle" of morals as: Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.

Some consider Mill as the founder of Social liberalism. Although Mill was mainly for free markets, he accepted interventions in the economy, such as a tax on alcohol, if there were sufficient utilitarian grounds. Mill was also a champion of women's rights.

• Some literature:
• On Representative Government, 1862
• On Liberty, 1868

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln (United States, 1809-1865) is best known as the President of the United States from 1861-1865. He argued for the theory of political equality and the supremacy of natural law over present political arrangements. Most famous for his debates with Stephen Douglas, Cooper Union speech on Congress's right to ban slavery from US territories, Second Inaugural Address and Gettysburg Address, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation - which converted the American Civil War into a struggle to end slavery.

Juan Bautista Alberdi

Juan Bautista Alberdi (Argentina, 1810-1884)

• Some literature:
• Bases y puntos de partida para la organización política de la República Argentina (Bases and Points of Departure for the Political Organization of the Argentine Republic), 1852
• Sistema económico y rentistico de la Confederación Argentina, según su Constitución de 1853 (Economic and rentistic system of the Argentine Confederation, according to its 1853 Constitution), 1854

Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

• Some literature:
• Civil Disobedience
• Walden

Jacob Burckhardt

Jacob Burckhardt (Switzerland, 1818-1897) State as derived from cultural and economic life

• Some literature:
• The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy

Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer (United Kingdom, 1820-1903) was an agitator against the newer forms of liberalism espoused by Mills or Bentham. He wanted a smaller state that was only concerned with the defense of persons and property rights. For Spencer, voluntary cooperation was the way for humans to live peacefully together.

• Some literature:
• Social Statics, 1851
• First Principles, 1862
• The Man versus the State, 1884
• Essays, Scientific, Political and Speculative, 1892

Thomas Hill Green

Thomas Hill Green (United Kingdom, 1836-1882)

Auberon Herbert

Auberon Herbert (United Kingdom, 1838–1906)

Carl Menger

Carl Menger (Austria, 1840-1921)

• Some literature:
• Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre (Principles of Economics), 1871
• Untersuchungen über die Methode der Sozialwissenschaften und der Politischen Ökonomie insbesondere (Investigations into the Method of the Social Sciences: with special reference to economics), 1883
• Irrthumer des Historismus in der deutschen Nationalokonomie (The Errors of Historicism in German Economics), 1884
• Zur Theorie des Kapitals (The Theory of Capital), 1888

William Graham Sumner

William Graham Sumner (United States, 1840-1910)

• Some literature:
• Socialism, 1878
• The Argument Against Protective Tariffs, 1881
• Protective Taxes and Wages, 1883
• The Absurd Effort to Make the World Over, 1883
• State Interference, 1887
• Protectionism: the -ism which teaches that waste makes wealth, 1887
• The Forgotten Man, and Other Essays, 1917

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (United States, 1841-1935) was a jurist and writer. He wrote the influential book on legal theory The Common Law, which traced the creation of individual rights from familial rights common under Roman and Feudal law, and presented the "objective" theory of judicial interpretation. Specifically that the standard for intent and culpability should be that of the "reasonable man", and that individuals can be said to objectively intend the reasonable consequences of their actions.

Lujo Brentano

Ludwig Joseph Brentano (Germany, 1844-1931)

Tomáš Masaryk

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (Czechoslovakia, 1850-1937)

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (Austria, 1851-1914)

• Some literature:
• Kapital und Kapitalzins (Capital and Interest), in three volumes, 1884, 1889 and 1909
• Die Positive Theorie des Kapitals (The positive theory of capital and its critics), in three volumes, 1895 and 1896
• Zum Abschluss des Marxschen Systems (Karl Marx and the Close of his system),1898

Louis Brandeis

Louis Brandeis (1856-1941)

Thorstein Veblen

Thorstein Veblen (1857-1926) is best known as the author of Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen was influential to a generation of American liberalism searching for a rational basis for the economy beyond corporate consolidation and "cut throat competition". Veblen's central argument was that individuals require sufficient non-economic time to become educated citizens. He caustically attacked pure material consumption for its own sake, and the idea that utility equalled conspicuous consumption.

John Dewey

John Dewey (United States, 1859-1952)

• Some literature:
• Liberalism and Social Action, 1935
• Democracy and Education

Friedrich Naumann

Friedrich Naumann (Germany, 1860-1919)

Max Weber

Max Weber (Germany, 1864-1920) was a theorist of state power and the relationship of culture to economics. Argued that there was a moral component to capitalism rooted in "Protestant" values. Weber was along with Friedrich Naumann active in the National Social Union and later in the German Democratic Party.

• Some literature:
• Die protestantische Ethik und der 'Geist' des Kapitalismus,1904 (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism )

Leonard Hobhouse

Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse (United Kingdom, 1864-1929)

• Some literature:
• Liberalism, 1911

Benedetto Croce

Benedetto Croce (Italy, 1866-1952)

• Some literature:
• Che cosa è il liberalismo, 1943

Walther Rathenau

Walther Rathenau (Germany, 1867-1922)

William Beveridge

William Beveridge (United Kingdom, 1879-1963)

• Some literature:
• Full Employment in a Free Society, 1944
• Why I am a liberal, 1945

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises (Austria/United States, 1881-1973)

• Some literature:
• Socialism, 1922
• Liberalism, 1927
• Omnipotent Government, 1944
• Human Action, 1949

John Maynard Keynes

The economist John Maynard Keynes (United Kingdom, 1883-1946) is best known for his work on monetary theory and macroeconomics, which was an attempt to restructure private sector capitalist economies in the wake of the lessons of World War I and The Great Depression. He proposed policies which included short term intervention in the market, statistical econometrics as an important instrument of social policy, and an active use of government power. He was sharply critical of using economics for purely nationalist goals, or economic punishment as a means of attaining political ends. He opposed the introduction of the Bretton Woods system, after World War II, arguing instead for an alternative system called the International Clearing Union. Keynes was an active member of the British Liberal Party.

• Some literature:
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, 1936
• The Economic Consequences of the Peace

José Ortega y Gasset

José Ortega y Gasset (Spain, 1883-1955)

• Some literature:
• La rebelión de las masas (The Rebellion of the Masses), 1930

Salvador de Madariaga

Salvador de Madariaga (Spain, 1886-1978). One of the principal authors of the Oxford Manifesto in 1947.

Adolf Berle

Adolf Berle (United States, 1895-1971) was author of The Modern Corporation and Private Property, detailing the importance of differentiating between the management of corporations and the share holders who are the owners. Influential in the theory of New Deal policy.

• Some literature with Gardiner Means:
• The Modern Corporation and Private Property

Wilhelm Röpke

Wilhelm Röpke (Germany, 1899-1966)

• Some literature:
• International Economic Disintegration, 1942
• The Social Crisis of Our Time, 1942
• Civitas Humana, 1944
• International Order and Economic Integration, 1945
• The Solution of the German Problem, 1946

Bertil Ohlin

Bertil Ohlin (Sweden, 1899-1979)

• Some literature:
• Interregional and International Trade, 1933

Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich Hayek (Austria/United Kingdom/United States/Germany, 1899-1992) In Hayek's view, the central role of the state should be to maintain the rule of law, with as little arbitrary intervention as possible.

• Some literature:
• The Road to Serfdom, 1944
• The Constitution of Liberty, 1960
• Law, Legislation and Liberty, in three volumes, 1973, 1976 and 1979

Karl Popper

Karl Raimund Popper (Austria/United Kingdom, 1902-1994) developed the idea of the open society, characterized by respect for a wide variety of opinions and behaviors and a preference for audacious but piecemeal political reform over either conservative stasis or revolutionary utopianism. In his view, all overly simplistic and grand theories of history and society shared a common feature he called historicism, which he traces back to Plato, while the open society mirrors the methodological fallibilism pioneered by Popper in his earlier works on philosophy of science.

• Some literature:
• The Open Society and Its Enemies, 1945
• The Poverty of Historicism, 1961

Alan Paton

Alan Paton (South Africa, 1903-1988) contributed with his book Cry, The beloved country to a clear anti-apartheid stand of South African liberalism. His party, the South African Liberal Party was banned by the apartheid government.

• Some literature:
• Cry, The Beloved Country, 1948

John Hicks

John Hicks (United Kingdom, 1904-1989) is known for his work in macro-economics and social choice theory. His macro-economic work produced the IS-LM model of macro-economics, which would be the basis for much theory since then, including the work of Paul Krugman and Robert Mundell. In the area of social choice he argued for the necessity of placing freedom of choice in balance against social welfare to produce the best practical outcomes.

Raymond Aron

Raymond Aron (France, 1905-1983)

• Some literature:
• Essais sur les libertés, 1965
• Démocratie et totalitarisme, 1965

Simone de Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir (France 1908-1986) argued in her book The Second Sex that women were treated as legal and social inferiors, and that this was morally untenable. She was influential in the Women's Liberation movement and these arguments also contributed to those about race and racism.

• Some literature:
• The Second Sex

John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith (Canadian-born Economist who worked in the United States, 1908-2006)

• Some literature:
• The Affluent Society, 1958
• The Liberal Hour, 1960

Isaiah Berlin

Isaiah Berlin (Latvia/United Kingdom, 1909-1997) is most famous for his attempt to distinguish 'two conceptions of liberty'. Berlin argued that what he called 'positive' and 'negative' liberty were mutually opposing concepts. Positive conceptions assumed that liberty could only be achieved when collective power (in the form of church or state) acted to 'liberate' mankind from its worst aspects. These, Berlin felt, tended towards totalitarianism. Negative conceptions, by contrast, argued that liberty was achieved when individuals were given maximal freedom from external constraints (so long as these did not impinge on the freedom of others to achieve the same condition). Berlin was also a critic of dogmatic Enlightenment rationalism on the grounds that it was unable to accommodate value pluralism.

• Some literature:
• Two Concepts of Liberty, 1958
• Four Essays on Liberty, 1969
• From Hope and Fear Set Free, 1978

Milton Friedman

Often classified as a fiscal conservative, classical liberal, or libertarian in the context of 20th century American political thought, Friedman considered himself first and foremost a liberal and always opposed being classified as a "conservative economist." While Friedman held deep beliefs about liberty as a moral principle, his most influential contributions to liberal thought were as a Nobel Prize winning economist, and his contributions often took the form of economic analysis centered on the adverse consequences of state interference in market economies.

Milton Friedman (United States, 1912-2006)

• Some literature:
• Capitalism and Freedom, 1962
• Free to Choose, 1980
• Tyranny of the Status quo, 1984
• Economic Freedom, Human Freedom, Political Freedom, 1992

Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. (United States, 1917- 2007) is an historian and philosopher of history, who chronicled the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and theorized on the importance of progressive moments in advancing liberalism.

• Some literature:
• The Vital Center
• The Age of Roosevelt
• The Cycles in American History

James Buchanan

James Buchanan (United States, * 1919) is known for his economic theories of the political process, which were among the first to take seriously the concept of politicians as rational actors that respond to incentives.

• Some literature:
• The Calculus of Consent / James Buchanan & Gordon Tullock, 1962
• The Limits of Liberty, 1975
• Democracy in Deficit / James Buchanan & Richard E. Wagner, 1977
• The Power to Tax / James Buchanan & Geoffrey Brennan, 1980
• The Reason of Rules / James Buchanan & Geoffrey Brennan, 1985

John Rawls

John Rawls (United States, 1921-2002) is widely considered one of the most important English-language political philosophers of the 20th century. There is general agreement that the publication of his landmark work, A Theory of Justice, led to a revival in the academic study of political philosophy. The importance of this book in contemporary liberal thought and social contract theory is perhaps best described by an early libertarian rival and critic, Robert Nozick, who called it a "work in political and moral philosophy that has not seen its equal since the writings of John Stuart Mill, if then.... Political philosophers must now work within Rawls' theory or explain why not." (Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, p. 183) Some of Rawls's contributions include the ideas of Justice as Fairness, the original position, reflective equilibrium, overlapping consensus, public reason, and the veil of ignorance. Rawls has the distinction among contemporary political philosophers of being frequently cited by the courts of law in the United States and referred to by practicing politicians in the United Kingdom.

• Some literature:
• A Theory of Justice, 1971
• Political Liberalism, 1996
• The Law of Peoples, 1999
• Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, 2001

Murray Newton Rothbard

Murray Rothbard (United States, 1926-1995) was the originator of modern anarcho-capitalism and an economist and economic historian of the Austrian school. He is widely considered one of the foremost advocates of liberty and freedom in the late 20th century. He was involved with various political movements throughout his life, notably with Ayn Rand and, later, the Libertarian Party of United States. His influence is lasting in the libertarian and anarcho-capitalist movements.

Ralf Dahrendorf

Ralf Dahrendorf (Germany/United Kingdom, 1929- )

• Some literature:
• Die Chancen der Krise: über die Zukunft des Liberalismus, 1983
• Fragmente eines neuen Liberalismus, 1987

Karl-Hermann Flach

The journalist Karl-Hermann Flach (Germany, 1929-1973) was in his book Noch eine Chance für die Liberalen one of the main theorist of the new social liberal principles of the Free Democratic Party (Germany). He places liberalism clearly as the opposite of conservatism and opened the road for a government coalition with the social democrats.

Joseph Raz

Joseph Raz (United Kingdom)

• Some literature:
• The Morality of Freedom

Ronald Dworkin

Ronald Dworkin (United States, 1931- )

Richard Rorty

Richard Rorty (United States, 1931-2007) was one of the leading contemporary philosophers of liberalism. His fundamental claims, among others, are that liberalism is best defined as the attempt to avoid cruelty to others; that liberals need to accept the historical 'irony' that there is no metaphysical justification for their belief that not being cruel is a virtue; that literature plays a crucial role in developing the empathy necessary to promote solidarity (and therefore lack of cruelty) between humans; and that private philosophising and public political discourse are separate practices and should remain so.

Amartya Sen

Amartya Sen (India, 1933- ) is an economist whose early work was based on Kenneth Arrow's General Possibility Theorem, and on the impossibility of both complete pareto optimality and solely procedural based rights. Won Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on famine, welfare economics and social choice theory. Advocate of rationality as the fundamental safe guard of freedom and justice.

• Some literature:
• Development as Freedom
• The Argumentative Indian

Robert Nozick

Robert Nozick (United States, 1938-2002) was a libertarian (or minarchist). He advocated an unapologetically reductionist political philosophy characterized by meticulous analysis of the moral aspects of each social interaction, and did not shy away from addressing hard philosophical issues such as the original appropriation of property. Nozick is best known for providing the justification of a minimal state by showing that it can be established without any unjust steps.

• Some literature:
• Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 1974

Hernando de Soto

The economist Hernando de Soto (Peru, 1941- ) is an advocate of transparency and private property rights, arguing that intransparent government leads to property not being given proper title, and therefore being "dead capital" which cannot be used as the basis of credit. Argues that laws which allocate property to those most able to use them for economic growth, so called "squatter's rights", are an important innovation.

• Some literature:
• The Other Path, 1986
• The Mystery of Capital, 2000

Bruce Ackerman

Bruce Ackerman (United States)

• Some literature:
• We, The People

Joseph Stiglitz

The economist Joseph Stiglitz was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work on market failures caused by imperfect information. While this work is rather dry to a non-economist it demonstrates how states can give great benefits to their populations with a light hand and avoid socialist policies like nationalisation. He is best known politically for his work first as an adviser to international institutions like the World Trade Organisation, and then as a commentator supportive of their principles but critical of their practices. (United States, 1943- )

• Some literature
• Globalization and its Discontents
• Making Globalization Work

Martha Nussbaum

Martha Nussbaum (United States, 1947-present) elaborates the Rawlsian Theory of Justice. For her, Rawls's Liberty Principle is only meaningful if viewed in terms of substantial freedoms, i.e. real opportunities based on personal and social circumstance. Likewise, inequality in the Difference Principle has to be clarified in terms of capabilities.

Dirk Verhofstadt

In his book Het menselijk liberalisme (The human liberalism) Dirk Verhofstadt (b. Belgium, Dendermonde, 1955) outlines a social liberal response to anti-globalism. Dirk Verhofstadt is brother of Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt, member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats and of Liberales, an independent think tank within the liberal movement. Its members consider liberalism as a progressive movement supporting individual freedom, justice and human rights. Liberales reacts against narrow minded conservatism related to social economic, ecological and ethical issues supported by compartmentalized parties and structures.

• Some literature:
• Het einde van het BRT-monopolie, 1982 (The end of the BRT-monopoly).
• Het menselijk liberalisme. Een antwoord op het antiglobalisme, 2002 (The human liberalism. An answer to anti-globalism).
• Pleidooi voor individualisme, 2004 (Plea for individualism).
• De derde feministische golf, 2006 (The third feminist wave).

Will Kymlicka

Will Kymlicka (Canada, * 1962) tries in his philosophy to determine if forms of ethnic or minority nationalism are compatible with liberal-democratic principles of individual freedom, social equality and political democracy. In his book Multicultural Citizenship. A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights he argues that certain "collective rights" of minority cultures can be consistent with these liberal-democratic principles.

Charles Arthur Willard

(USA)"Liberalism and the Problem of Knowledge: A New Rhetoric for Modern Democracy." University of Chicago Press, 1996. Debunks the discourse of liberalism, arguing that its exaggerated ideals of authenticity, unity, and community have deflected attention from the pervasive incompetence of the rule by experts. He proposes a ground of communication that emphasizes common interests rather than narrow disputes.

Footnotes