Recovering Classical Liberal Political Economy
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Lays out an account of the origins and development of liberal political and economic theory
Includes 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 economy
Integrates history of economic thinking into broader milieu of modern political, moral and natural philosophy
Examines secondary literature and research from a range of disciplinary areas including political theory, modern intellectual history, economic thought and modern British history and philosophy
This 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.
Lee Ward is Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, USA. His previous publications include Modern Democracy and the Theological-Political Problem in Spinoza, Rousseau, and Jefferson, New York: Palgrave MacMillan Publishers, 2014; John Locke and Modern Life, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010 and The Politics of Liberty in England and Revolutionary America, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.