Making the case for liberalism: Wooldridge’s polemic draws together the disparate traditions of liberal thought and action (Daniel Johnson, 3/31/26, The Critic)
Yet “liberty”, in the sense of political freedom or a civil right, emerged in the crucible of the 17th century battles between king and parliament. The late Larry Siedentop showed that medieval canon lawyers had already developed the prerequisites of liberalism: the apotheosis of the individual (“Renaissance man”), equality before the law and representative government.
Wooldridge singles out Erasmus, Hobbes and Montesquieu as key figures in the transition to liberalism as a coherent political philosophy. One might hazard the view that Erasmus teaches us to beware of polarisation and intolerance, Hobbes to enforce our implicit contract with the sovereign against both anarchy and tyranny, whilst Montesquieu’s doctrine of the separation of powers guards against the usurpation of the state by an overmighty executive branch, or what Lord Hailsham called “elective dictatorship”.
…that distinguishes the liberal from the Left/Right.