What does the word "Liberal" really mean?

Question

Only serious answers please. No point hunters, just answers.

Answer 1

The word "liberal" derives from the Latin liberalis ("generous"). However, it is widely associated with the word "liberty" and the concept of freedom. Livy's History of Rome from Its Foundation describes the struggles for freedom between the plebeian and patrician classes. Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations writes about "...the idea of a policy administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed... ." Largely dormant during the vicissitudes of the Middle Ages, the struggle for freedom began again in the Italian Renaissance, in the conflict between the supporters of free city states and the supporters of the Pope. Niccolò Machiavelli, in his Discourses on Livy, laid down the principles of republican government. John Locke in England and the thinkers of the French Enlightenment articulated the struggle for freedom in terms of the Rights of Man.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) indicates that the word liberal has long been in the English language with the meanings of "befitting free men, noble, generous" as in liberal arts; also with the meaning "free from restraint in speech or action", as in liberal with the purse, or liberal tongue, usually as a term of reproach but, beginning 1776–88 imbued with a more favorable sense by Edward Gibbon and others to mean "free from prejudice, tolerant."

The first English language use to mean "tending in favor of freedom and democracy", according to the OED, dates from about 1801 and comes from the French libéral, "originally applied in English by its opponents (often in Fr. form and with suggestions of foreign lawlessness)". An early English language citation: "The extinction of every vestige of freedom, and of every liberal idea with which they are associated."[4]

The American War of Independence established the first nation to craft a constitution based on the concept of liberal government, especially the idea that governments rule by the consent of the governed. The more moderate bourgeois elements of the French Revolution tried to establish a government based on liberal principles. Economists such as Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations (1776), enunciated the liberal principles of free trade. The editors of the Spanish Constitution of 1812, drafted in Cádiz, may have been the first to use the word liberal in a political sense as a noun. They named themselves the Liberales, to express their opposition to the absolutist power of the Spanish monarchy.

Beginning in the late 18th century, liberalism became a major ideology in virtually all developed countries.

Answer 2

the word "liberal" into a bad thing. Most Americans do not understand that the founding fathers were liberals. Liberals believe in protecting idividual rights, as our founding fathers wanted. The Republicans want to take away individual rights. The Republicans have also done a good job of making the ACLU seem like an unamerican orginization. The American Civil Liberties Union's only purpose is to protect the individual rights of all Americans. This is a very noble purpose. The Republicans are morally and intellectually bankrupt. But the liberals will never try to take away the Republicans right to spout nonsense, because the liberals actually believe in the right to free speech. Perhaps some one could explain the right to free speech to this administration.

Answer 3

The Republicans have done a very good job of turning the word "liberal" into a bad thing. Most Americans do not understand that the founding fathers were liberals. Liberals believe in protecting idividual rights, as our founding fathers wanted. The Republicans want to take away individual rights. The Republicans have also done a good job of making the ACLU seem like an unamerican orginization. The American Civil Liberties Union's only purpose is to protect the individual rights of all Americans. This is a very noble purpose. The Republicans are morally and intellectually bankrupt. But the liberals will never try to take away the Republicans right to spout nonsense, because the liberals actually believe in the right to free speech. Perhaps some one could explain the right to free speech to this administration.

Answer 4

Liberal Meaning

Answer 5

Many serious and intelligent answers here. I knew that people who affiliate themselves with the political thought *not considered liberal* had long been twisting the original meaning. Some of those lovers of the status quo who have answered here, it seems, have the least intelligent things to say. I guess they just can't find the right words to justify their own political beliefs. I've heard them try many times, but even from the most seasoned orator, it just doesn't add up. All I had to do was read the definitions of liberal political thought to know why I believe in it.
(Though a balance is good, and too far one way or another is not good, either.)

Answer 6

The word "liberal" derives from the Latin liberalis ("generous"). However, it is widely associated with the word "liberty" and the concept of freedom.the word liberal has long been in the English language with the meanings of befitting free men and noble.

Within the above framework, there are deep, often bitter conflicts and controversies among liberals. Emerging from those controversies, out of classical liberalism, are a number of different trends within liberalism.


Social liberalism also new liberalism, radical liberalism sometimes modern liberalism is a development of liberalism It has been a label used by progressive liberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from classical liberal parties, Economic liberalism, Political liberalism Rejecting all and most forms of capitalism .

Economic liberalism, also called classical liberalism or Manchester liberalism, is an ideology which supports the individual rights of property and freedom of contract.

Political liberalism is the belief that individuals are the basis of law and society, and that society and its institutions exist to further the ends of individuals, without showing favor to those of higher social rank.

The Best but never last.

Classical liberalism is a political philosophy that supports individual rights as pre-existing the state, a government that exists to protect those moral rights, ensured by a constitution that protects individual autonomy from other individuals and governmental power, private property, and a laissez-faire economic policy. The "normative core" of classical liberalism is the idea that in an environment of laissez-faire, a spontaneous order of cooperation in exchanging goods and services emerges that satisfies human wants. It is a blend of political liberalism and economic liberalism which is derived from Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Adam Smith, Voltaire, Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Immanuel Kant, and their precursors, like Thomas Hobbes and Baruch Spinoza.

So what is a Liberal it waould be what kind of one yor asking about.
Social liberalism = Fools or the left wing
Classical liberalism = The good old right wing

That is very strange is it not?

Answer 7

WOW lots of answers to this, mostly WRONG. The basic meaning of the word liberal has nothing to do with how government works or politics. It comes from the root word "Liberty". It means one who stands for, lives with and supports Liberty. Now if you stand for, live with and want Liberty for all, then you are a liberal, plain and simple.

Answer 8

Without cutting and pasting from an on-line dictionary, the root of liberal is liberty. Liberals think of themselves as progressive freedom supporters.

Meaning is, however, in the perception.

Liberals are perceived as the people who are somewhat secular, socialist, and against any war.

Answer 9

Basically, "liberal" means "progressive." It's the attitude that as conditions change, so should policies.

Every advancement we enjoy today is the result of "liberal" policies and thinking. Ann Coulter should maybe think about the fact that we're not even a century in to the crazy liberal notion of a woman's right to vote. People were suspicious of the printing press when it was first invented, and called it the "tool of the devil." Basically, whenever a new idea or invention or what-have-you is introduced, the ignorant superstitious peasants freak out. The bourgeoisie is always fundamentally conservative. But note that even the most die-hard "conservative" of today would have been the zaniest of "liberals" 100 years ago. Progress happens!

P.S. Note all the idiots on here defining "liberal" as communist, socialist, terrorist-sympathizing, even - my personal favorite - "a passive person." These are the descendants of the peasants who thought Satan invented the printing press. There is no reasoning with this "mentality" or lack thereof, now as then.

Answer 10

Webster says it means, "favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs". However, the its use has been distorted by many who consider themselves "liberal" and by many who consider themselves "conservative". I don't believe that Bush and Senator Edward Kennedy would agree on the meaning of the term. To a "conservative" the liberal label is applied to all they think is bad, and to a liberal it means all that is good. That is why labels are so meaningless and also why people like to toss them around.

Answer 11

To be 'Liberal' is to be a person that believes in individual liberty.

Liberals have an ideological belief in freedom of the individual and freedom of thought and see government as open to scrutiny and limited in power. Equal opportunities in an open market are preferred to the capitalist desire to obtain unequal wealth and market dominance.

However, the word 'Liberty' along with 'freedom' and 'democracy' is frequently subjected to 'semantical deception' and used in a misleading way by politicians.

The Political Philosopher Isaiah Berlin defined Liberty as either Positive Liberty or Negative Liberty.

Positive Liberty is used in Conservative circles and means conforming to the greater good to allow the person to reach their full potential for the common benefit. It is not freedom from authority.

Negative Liberty is true individual liberty, meaning freedom from authority & oppression and life without interference. This is what we commonly desire and consider 'liberty'

Look into Isaiah Berlin's definition of Liberty for more detail. Tony Blair is an admirer of Isaiah Berlin, explaining how he calls for Liberty when he restricts civil freedom & believes in Socialism

In summary, a Liberal should desire freedom to act without outside interference, but in political terms can mean state control or authoritarianism to liberate your potential for self realisation or to liberate you from pointless self motivated desires.