Definition of Classical Liberal ... I would love to have a discussion
I've been wondering if it is possible to start a conversation about a substantive topic on SteemIt.
I want to give it a try and talk about a definition for "classical liberalism" that I came up with a few decades ago.
So, I had listening to people arguing about their ideologies. Many alluded to the US Founders but no-one had taken any time to read the founders.
After the conversation, I asked: What is the ideology of the Founders?
The founders, of course, lived before the age of ideology. As such, they did not give the nation a monolithic ideology.
On reading the writings of the Founders, it appears that they were engaged in a conversation about liberty that included Greek logic, the Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic, the Judeo Christian tradition and more.
I was interested in the history of mathematics and logic.
The founders had studied logic as presented by Antoine Arnauld and Isaac Watts.
The term ideology was invented in the French Revolution. After the US Revolution, Scholars in Royally funded European Universities developed a type of new think called "modern logic."
The difference between modern logic and classical logic is very. One difference is the role of paradoxes. Classical logicians sought to avoid paradoxes. Modern logicians embrace paradoxes.
The paradox of a Republic is that the people might vote in a despot who ends the Republic.
Hegel presented numerous arguments that freedom was slavery and slavery freedom. For example in a society with property rights, a free person becomes a slave to his property.
A master might become dependent on his slaves resulting in a master/slave reversal.
New Think (Modern Logic) is chock full of paradoxes.
When brings me back to my definition. I wanted a term to describe the ideals of the US Founders. This was my conclusion.
The US Founders had a liberal arts education steeped in classical logic. The Founders fought a revolution to liberate the colonies from the crown. They then applied classical logic to the question of liberty and developed a constitutionally limited government with a relatively free people.
The perfect term for this approach is "Classical Liberalism."
I define classical liberalism as: The application of classical logic to the question of liberty.
The US Founders read discourse about liberty from Ancient Greece and Rome to pre-Revolutionary Europe. They often took notes in the margins of their books.
They clearly saw themselves engaged in a conversation about the nature of human liberty and the proper role of government and courts.
I call this conversation: "The Classical Liberal Tradition."
Libertarianism is largely a continuation of the classical liberal tradition.
Classical liberalism stands in constrast to Modern Liberalism in that modern liberalism applies Modern Logic (New Think) to the question of liberty. Modern liberals would say that a totalitarian government frees people from all the bad things in life.
As mentioned early. I started by searching for the ideology of the US Founders. I've concluded that it is possible to use this term: "Classical Liberal" to refer to the founder's ideology.
With this definition one can show how the enemies of freedom sought to undermine the American Experiment in self rule simply by changing the definition of the term "liberal."
We can also discuss the history of conservatism and expose why Conservatism has so far failed to extend our liberty. See post:
https://steemit.com/conservatism/@yintercept/who-was-the-first-conservative
Anyway, I came up with this definition some decades ago. I have put it out on numerous forums, but have never found anyone interested in discussing the term.
I would love to have some feedback.