Analysis of The Liberalism Political View

The political realm is multifaceted with different schools of thought. Among the most influential schools of thought are: the liberalism, realism, idealism, pragmatism, existentialism, radicals and conservative. These schools of thought hold on to different world views that help in shaping the politics of the world. This paper skews towards the liberalism political view.

Chau (2009, p.2) acknowledges liberalism as a political philosophy enshrined in two principles-which are individualism and liberty. The purpose of liberalism is to allow individuals to reach the top most level they can through liberty. In this case, Chau states that individual is in the heart of the society in which if given opportunity to define his or her own ways, liberalism will take course.

One significant concept of liberalism as established by Hobhouse (1944, p.117) is the “truth”. Hobhouse believes that a mature liberalism is based on “the whole truth and nothing but the truth” (Hobhouse 1944, p.117). A liberalist is portrayed as a person who endeavours to foster truth and anything he or she considers false should be confronted with justice. The justice in this case has been used deliberately used to reveal that there are some concepts that can be seen as false but in real sense they contain some elements of verisimilitude.

A fair hearing to both what individual perceives as true and that which is deemed false helps the liberalists to provide strong proofs towards his or her views. This idea is further aggrandised by Gardner (2006, p.2) who claims that truth defines human being and in order for the human being to be true they should be given opportunity to make their own choices.

In the above presentation, Hobhouse attempts to link truth to justice in the sense that justice precedes truth. If a situation is given a just judgment in terms of truth or falsity, the truth is understood. A liberalist should be just when analysing the truth of a situation or a person because some things that seem false may not be false per se. in addition, the errors should be given a fair play since as they develop truth can emerge.

The second key idea presented by Hobhouse is the “divergent opinion”. A society characterised by liberalism should accept the fact that people are different and they hold different opinions (Hobhouse 1944 p.119). Therefore, individuals should be allowed to express their opinions without fear of contradiction. Huckfeldt (2002, p.1) attributes democracy in politics to the divergent opinion whereby he claims that public opinion plays an important role in attainment of democracy in a nation. Hobhouse states that societies should stop stigmatising immoral people or deny them chance to partake in significant social events because the person can reform and becomes helpful to the society.

This claim by Hobhouse reveals the correlation between divergent opinions and the truth. He believes that once a person has come to a point of reforming, that person has defined the truth. In which case, the divergent opinion helps the liberalists to discern the tenants of truth.

Hobhouse (1944, p.123) theorises that a liberal society is the one built on “self-directing power of personality”. The society that individuals have self-directing power have liberty. This argument is in congruence with the liberalism definition offered by Bell (2014, p. 682) that liberty is the sole component of liberal society. Hobhouse idea is that people should be given chance to define their lives than defining for them. Life is a process of learning and what people learn for themselves they better absorb and retained (Hobhouse 1944 p.122). He refutes the concept of moral discipline claiming that it serves as a reversal agent to a person’s progress because it majorly focuses on entertaining people around them. Sometimes the external pressure may overwhelm a person and reduce him completely, however, once the person is given a chance to rise, the person will grow to the full realisation of his potential. Nevertheless, liberty is not preordained as a right of a society but just a principle that directs people to treat each other as a rational being. This concept is linked to the concept of truth in that no one can judge a person’s demeanour as right or false and if one judges others so, the concept of truth will be jeopardised. However, leading the law breakers in proper ways in order for them to define their way, is the foundation of truth.

“Organic conception” forms one of the pillars in the work of Hobhouse (1944, p.126). Hobhouse summarises the concept of organic as a collective components that work together as a whole. In this case, a society is metaphorically described as organic since it is made up of different people who work together. However, in order for people to work together in the society, individual liberty should be guaranteed (Ogunkoya 2011 p.516). By merging individual liberty and society development, Hobhouse is able to link the concept of self-directing power of personality and that of organic conception. In which case, if a person has defined his self-directing power, he is able to join others in development agendas. He justify his decision of linking these concepts by arguing that individual rights can never wrestle with the common good of the society and that there is no superior personality than the rest in the society.

At the centre of solitary society, Hobhouse places the concept of “natural harmony”. He quotes the concept of natural harmony as “support” rather than conflict –free society (Hobhouse 1944 p.128). There should be an opportunity through which individuals and society can achieve harmony. The path described here is the one that leads to individual development who will in turn support the entire society to develop. For example, people always acquire education individually but after employment their efforts are used in transforming the society. However, in order to achieve the harmony, individual interest should be respected and be devoid of external interference (Hobhouse 1944 p.129). Faily (2016, p.5) warns that harmony can be compromised when the society is divided into majority and minority classes. Nonetheless, harmony always exist but it requires “prudence and coolness of judgment for its effective operation” (Hobhouse 1944 p.130). In this regard, concept of natural harmony is correlated with the idea of organic conception in the point that individual liberty contributes to organic conception which further builds a harmonious society.

Another liberal idea presented herein is the “equality conception”. Interestingly, Hobhouse deviates his consideration of equality from the normal construct of equality before a law to a total new concept in which he terms it as “equality of opportunity” (Hobhouse 1944 p.131). Equality of opportunity holds that inequality of actual treatment lies on common good which is “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, or individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily” Argandoña (2011 p.1). For instance, if the society has been divided into social cast of the billionaires and the poor, it is for common good because both the rich and the poor are incorporated in the same economic system. At this point, Hobhouse throws back his readers to the concept of harmony which he claims it rests on the principle of common good. This is when people either think of the goodness of the individual or of the community. However, equality and harmonious life depends entirely on liberty. In this relationship, Hobhouse claims that equality can be achieved through natural harmony. If people lives in harmony, everybody will be treated as equal and the common good will be attained.

Historical liberalism has also been recognised through the idea of “common will”. In this case, Hobhouse claims that “Within any peaceful order there is room for many good things to flourish” (Hobhouse 1944 p.135). In order to achieve the above good things, the society should have active men and women participants in the progress of the community. However, a need for a good government is central in boosting the common will of the people Stapleton et al., (2007 p.812). The government should provide ample environment for the members to gain morale of solidarity and common will. One way to promote such environment is by fostering nationalism through unity and integration. The notion of common will correlates with that of organic conception in as much as they both depend on the togetherness of people in the attainment of best in the society.

Hobhouse concludes that social principles grow out of human development and that Liberalism is a school of thought that helps individual to understand that progress acts as a liberator of spiritual energy in the society. In this case, a good society is the one that provides an opportunity to the individual to renew their energy in order to develop wholesomely.

This chapter of the book has been knitted together in a very unique kind of structure by Hobhouse. The chapter has been structured in a linear manner in such a way that the preceding idea correlates with the proceeding one. Creatively, these ideas have also been waxed in a sense that they form a web like structure where all the ideas depend on each other. Starting with basic concept of truth, the readers are led to the second concept of divergent opinion which serves as an agent of truth in the society, gradually he moves the audience to the next concept which is the self-directing power of personality which confirms the importance of divergent opinion in determining the self-directing power of an individual. The self-directing power is then correlated by organic conception in a manner that, individual development plays important role in developing the society. The organic conception is seen as an important factor in in creating a harmonious society. Finally, the common good is only attained through common will of the people.

One strength of the work of Hobhouse is that it focuses on the individual liberty which is a pillar in the creation of harmonious society. It gives the society a sense of direction in which people are called upon to prosper together. However, this study falls shot for it advocates for immorality and inequality. This can be seen when he states that immoral people should not be punished. He claims that social inequality may not be bad because it is for the good will of the society.