Liberalism is a social movement and socio-political teaching, the basis of which is the value of human freedom from all spheres of society (spiritual, economic, political, etc.).
Historically, the ideas of liberalism have been associated with people's attitudes toward property, which determined their social status and the volume of their receipt of possible social benefits.
The very first ideas in which liberalism manifested itself were the thoughts of the figures of Antiquity. First of all, the teachings of Socrates on a just state. Later, the Roman Stoics developed the idea of the universal nature of man and formulated the postulates of man’s inner spiritual freedom and natural law.
These thoughts attracted the special attention of philosophers of the 17-18 centuries. The views of Descartes, Spinoza and Milton on the essence of man as a rational and social being, on the state, religion and law became the ideological basis for the further development of European liberalism.
An important trend that influenced a clearer formulation of the postulates and ideas that liberalism carried was the Protestant reform movement. Its representatives demanded that all people have the right to freedom of religion. During this period, the influence of religion began to weaken.
With the development of capitalist production and the flourishing of scientific knowledge, feudal relations in England and France began to rapidly collapse. The privileges of the aristocracy became more limited, a new social class gradually formed - the bourgeoisie. All this led to the formation of a new ideology, which was characterized by its own system of values. They embodied in the course, which became known as "liberalism."
This time was characterized by the fact that thinkers saw the main threat to human freedom in the person of the state. The political credo of liberalism has become such principles as the need for constitutional government based on the separation of powers into executive, legislative and judicial; observance of the inalienable human rights to freedom of religion, speech, association in organizations of a political nature.
Freedom was not understood as absolute, but as an opportunity to freely think, choose a religion, express personal views, unite in parties, engage in trade, choose rulers and form of government.
The term itself appeared after the first time in Spain in 1812 that liberals were called an association of people who were preparing the text of a constitution.
In Europe, classical liberalism is associated with the ideas of British political economists, who developed the idea that the economy should be free from government interference. As a direction of philosophical thought, liberalism advocated the development of individual initiative. In the economic aspect, his ideas substantiated the need for the development of free trade, pricing, and remuneration, which, if combined, should stimulate competition between individual producers in the market.
Liberalism is not just an intellectual trend. In many ways, it would be more correct to call it an economic, sociological and philosophical doctrine.
According to the ideas of Rousseau and Locke, a person has a natural right to freedom, which the state should protect. Supporters of these views were Hume, Kant, Franklin, Jefferson, Condorcet, Montesquieu and others. These ideas are reflected in the US Declaration of Independence of 1776, the Declaration of Human Rights of 1789, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Liberalism and neoliberalism are closely related by their key provisions. The latter has been developing ideas in political economy and philosophy since the 1930s.