Introduction

About the lecture

In this module, we provide an broad introduction to liberalism as a political philosophy, focusing in particular on: (i) the historical context for the rise of liberalism; (ii) the difficulty of finding a single definition of liberalism; (iii) some of the key concerns in liberal political discourse, e.g. liberty, rights, the rule of law, etc. (iv) the changing fortunes of liberalism as a political ideology between the 19th and 21st centuries; (v) the ideological opponents of liberalism.

About the lecturer

Jeremy Jennings is Professor of Political Theory at King's College, London. His research focuses upon the history of political thought in France. He is presently finishing a book provisionally entitled Travels with Tocqueville and is acting as co-editor of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of French Thought. A larger, long-term project is to write a history of the concept of liberty.