POL101Y1 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Peyote, Minimax, Illiberal Democracy
Document Summary
Different definitions: hobbes"s suggests it"s the self-interest of priests, intellectuals and politicians. Liberalisms or liberalism? that explains lack of precise definitions, 20th century writers suggested political concepts are. Essentially contested", or liberals" political concerns have altered over the past three centuries. Liberals themselves have sometimes tried to define liberalism in such a way that only the very deluded or the very wicked could fail to be liberals. Social democrats who opposed both the one-party state and uncontrolled capitalism maintained that their disbelief in the legitimacy of private property in the means of production distinguished them from liberal democrats. American conservatives distinguished themselves from liberals by according state and central governments a greater role in preserving national identity. Liberalism includes toleration and an antipathy to closing ranks around any system of beliefs. Difficulty of defining political terms is that they are essentially contested" terms. Classical: limited in its aims, cautious about its metaphysical basis, and political in its orientation.
