Investigate an aspect of Western Society Term Paper

Investigate an aspect of Western Society - Term Paper exampleThere is a contradiction and conflict within liberalism between those who maintain that less government and more freedom are the correct course of action, against those who conceive of that the government ought to play a stronger role in areas such as the enforcement of equity or affirmative action. Therefore, while Liberalism can be said to be a core value in Western Civilization, it is besides responsible for some of the most deeply embedded conflicts in the West too. It will be argued that the central conflict in liberalism, is the role of the state in individuals lives. It is difficult to pinpoint an absolute juncture for the origins for liberalism. However, it can be said that the origins of liberalism are ingrained from the beginnings of the modern form of British Parliament. By this, what is referred to is the revolution in England in the mid to late sixteen hundreds which culminated in 1688 Walsh, 1997 14. Durin g this revolution, what was fought over, was the fact that there was a growing number of bourgeoisie land owners, who could not gain representation in government. In short, this rising middle secern contested to the government that as significant property holders they had a significant stake in the countries politics, and as such, they argued that Parliament should represent those who were not simply aristocrats, but any other land owner as well Dickerson and Flanagan, 1994, p. 94. Thus, liberalism is coextensive with democratic politics to some extent in its origins, and further, its origins can be found within those who fought for greater representation in the British Parliament in the Seventeenth century Goodwin, 1992, p. 41. What is important about the origins, is that it is essentially coextensive with foodstuff capitalism itself. The central protagonists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century of liberalism, were figures such as John Stuart zep and Adam Smith, a nd further, the American Fathers of the composition Garry, 1992, p. 49. Thus, although it can be said that liberals are interested in making changes within the system, and indeed, liberals have been key in various political reforms in around all Western nations, it can also be said that the history of liberalism is a history that has little part in any attempt to genuinely change the system itself -- that is, market driven capitalism. This said, more must be said about both the history of liberalism on the one hand, and the central tenets of this political philosophy, or ideology, depending on whether one agrees with liberalism or not. As mentioned in the introduction, one of the key figures of liberalism is John Stuart Mill, who was a philosopher and also the son of a philosopher named crowd together Mill, who was also a close friend of Jeremy Bentham. Mills central works were On Liberty, Utilitarianism and his major treatise on Political Economy. In many respects, Mill might b e argued as a good exemplar of modern or contemporary liberalism. By this, it is implied that he was interested in the following aspects which continue as general concerns. First, he maintained a certain primacy for individual freedom, and in particular, he thought that aspects like the absolute right to free terminology was an unquestionable cornerstone of liberalism. At the same time that he expressed a concern for the lack of government restraint on the individual, he was also a champion of