Recovering Classical Liberal Political Economy : : Natural Rights and the Harmony of InterestsNatural Rights and the Harmony of Interests / / Lee Ward.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter EBOOK PACKAGE COMPLETE 2022 English
• VerfasserIn: Ward, Lee,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Edinburgh Studies in Comparative Political Theory and Intellectual History
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (224 p.)

Lays out an account of the origins and development of liberal political and economic theoryIncludes case studies that cover thinkers and ideas from the English Civil War through to liberalism’s first encounters with socialism Provides comparative analysis of distinct intellectual traditions including English natural rights theory, the Scottish Enlightenment, Victorian-era utilitarianism and classical political economyIntegrates history of economic thinking into broader milieu of modern political, moral and natural philosophyExamines secondary literature and research from a range of disciplinary areas including political theory, modern intellectual history, economic thought and modern British history and philosophyThis book re-examines the philosophical roots of classical liberal political economy, as well as addressing the relationship between the empire and liberalism. It proposes an interpretive model based upon the interconnection between distinct theories of natural rights and the harmony of interests. It takes a fresh look at classical liberalism by exploring economic arguments in thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Paine, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon, who are not typically viewed as economic thinkers, and by highlighting the importance of Bernard Mandeville and Adam Smith in the development of interest-based liberalism. It also re-examines lesser-known economic tracts by thinkers such as John Locke, David Hume and John Stuart Mill in light of their more well-known political writings. With classical liberal assumptions still prominent in contemporary debates about economic justice, it is vital for every democratic citizen to understand the complex origins and development of the ideas that did so much to shape our world today.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction: Rethinking the Origins of Liberalism -- 1. The Political Economy of Thomas Hobbes -- 2. John Locke’s Liberal Politics of Money -- 3. Interests and Rights in Bernard Mandeville’s Fable Of the Bees and Trenchard and Gordon’s Cato’s Letters -- 4. Scottish Political Economy: David Hume and Adam Smith -- 5. The Political Economy of Thomas Paine -- 6. John Stuart Mill and the Stationary State -- 7. Liberalism on Empire and Emancipation -- Conclusion: Towards a Political Economy of Rights and Interests -- Bibliography -- Index