Liberalism (John Speaking)
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Since liberal philosophy and liberal society have changed over time it might be best to think in terms of an evolving liberal tradition that includes many varieties rather than a single philosophy called liberalism.

Let me throw out an idea: We can look at the tradition and put together a definition of liberalism in terms of trends or tendencies within that tradition. On this view, the liberal tradition is characterized by:

• a trend including an expanding area of personal freedom (from monarchy, from government, from community morals, etc.),

• a trend toward enlarging the group of people with the same rights (to include women, blacks, gays, and so forth), and

• a trend toward eliminating the corporate bodies within society and thinking of society as a group of closely interacting individuals.
  

I think that this is one way to give meaning to the concept of liberalism and not lose sight of both the range of ideas that have been called liberal and the failures that Malik pointed out. Still, the trend has been for rights to be extended to black people and women. That's an achievement of which liberals can be proud.

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