2.1.5 Crafting Classical Liberal Ideas

As you learned in the previous unit, one of the determining characteristics behind any ideology is a belief about the nature of human beings. During the past 500 or so years, individualism emerged as a central tenet of political and economic theory that challenged the absolute monarchies and mercantile economies of Western Europe.

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As a result, the ideology of classical liberalism emerged from these ideas about the primacy of individual decision making in society. This unit examines this slow but steady evolution.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, almost all people had a powerful belief in God. According to the teachings of the Church, people were weak and sinful and needed the saving grace of the Church. It was also believed that those in positions of power were there because they deserved to be. Those ideas changed with the Renaissance and the Reformation.

Renaissance (14th-16th C) means "rebirth". It was a time of great social, intellectual, political, and artistic change in European history, often seen as a bridge between the Middle Ages and modern times. The Renaissance Humanists believed in individual human worth and dignity. They believed in reason over faith. They thought that people choose their own nature-a great departure from the common thinking at the time that a person's true nature was divined by a higher power.

Reformation (1517-1648) is the name given to the restructuring of the Church in Europe. It began with a German pastor (Martin Luther) who believed the Church had become corrupt and had too much power. He and others felt that the Church had strayed from its true purpose and demanded that it be reformed. Influenced by humanism, over the next years, reformers in many countries broke away from the established Roman Catholic Church and constructed new denominations according to various ideas, especially the idea that people were capable of making their own decisions based on reason. At this time, the power of the Church waned and faith in the rational nature of human beings grew.

Age of Enlightenment (17th-18th C) - As the ideas of the Renaissance and Reformation became more popular, European philosophers helped promote the ideas about human nature that led to the development of classical liberalism.

Watch this video to learn how individualism, and subsequently classical liberal ideas, emerged during this time.


The following writers became famous for promoting certain liberal ideas. Click on each hyperlinked name to learn more about these contributions. Then, use the organizer below to take notes.

John Michael Wright's portrait of Thomas Hobbes, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Thomas Hobbes  1588-1679

Godfrey Kneller's portrait of John Locke, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain John Locke  1632-1704

Maurice Quentin de La Tour's portrait of Jean Jacques Rousseau, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Jean Jacques Rousseau  1712-1778

Although Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau had various ideas about the nature of human beings, one thing they all agreed upon was "the social contract". They agreed that, no matter what human nature is truly like, we all live in an organized society in which we must agree to give up some of our freedoms in return for benefits such as good government and personal security.

After reviewing the Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau pages that identify in detail, their beliefs, watch this video to compare all three: