Portraits of Liberty

In 17th-century England, where the divine right of kings was being questioned, Algernon Sidney was one of the most ardent republicans who detested unchecked monarchical power. He spent his life fighting for a political order that kept those in power accountable to the people. Due to his stubborn sense of honor and a lifetime of rebellion against tyranny, Algernon became a household name during the American Revolution. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Stuart Mill is one of the most influential liberal philosophers who ever lived. But Mill did not write alone, through his letters and autobiography he extensively praised his wife Harriet Taylor Mill who he considered an equal partner and co-author. This episode covers Harriets often forgotten importance in the history of liberalism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite his humble origins as the son of a failed farmer, Cobden became a celebrity within his life as both a politician and activist. Cobden spent much of his career attacking the Corn Laws, a set of restrictive policies that dramatically increased the price of food in Britain. But an often overlooked aspect of Cobden's career is his staunch opposition to British wars abroad. He saw no benefit for Britain in meddling in the affairs of other nations. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bastiat began his foray into politics as an advocate of the free market, but he quickly realized that the principles of freedom ought to be applied to all aspects of life. Bastiat believed the state was often used as a weapon by some against others and so the solution was to limit the state radically. Today, Bastiat is rightly remembered for his entertaining, witty, and memorable writings, which take complicated concepts and make them accessible to a person of any background. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The conventional narrative is that Enlightenment values are uniquely Western values. But this narrative becomes questionable when we look at Zera Yacob, an Ethiopian philosopher who predated the Enlightenment but came to many philosophical views that would form the core of Enlightenment values. Zera's methodology closely resembles Rene Descartes and comes to conclusions that echo John Locke's theory of natural law and religious toleration. In some ways, Zera even surpasses his western counterparts with a firm commitment to anti-racism and anti-sexist attitudes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From a young age, Maria Montessori defied the conventions and standards of her time studying engineering a field dominated by men and moving on to medicine, becoming the first degreed female physician in Italy. Through her work in medicine treating children, Maria began to study the education of children. She realized that the standard methods of educating children were failing abysmally. She created her own system, which treated children as spontaneous, creative, and, most importantly, autonomous individuals. The end goal education for Maria was making a child independent and self-sufficient. Her methods were highly effective, and she became a figure of international renown establishing schools across the globe throughout her busy internationally-focused life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While in college at the young age of eighteen, Étienne De La Boétie wrote a Discourse on Voluntary Servitude a book which attempted to explain why people obey tyrants despite their better judgement. Étienne explains how tyranny endures through the powers of habit, trickery, and patronage. But by far, Étienne’s most unique view is that the state must be dismantled by simple acts of mass civil disobedience reminding rulers we can always choose not to obey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mary Wollstonecraft had a tough life, her father was an abusive drunk and her families’ economic fortunes were ever worsening. Tired of the oppressive nature of home life Mary left and attempted to become an independent woman something that was extremely uncommon in the 18th-century. Despite the challenges in here way Mary became a respected public intellectual in her day writing two Vindications of the rights of men and women in which she discusses how to achieve a more equal and virtuous society that takes into account both men and women’s rights and progress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Auberon Herbert was born into a wealthy English aristocratic family and started his political career. But after witnessing the horrors of war through Europe and America and witnessing the incompetence of parliament, he lost faith in the abilities of the state. Inspired by the writing of Herbert Spencer Auberon set out to articulate a political philosophy emphasizing the importance of consent and the voluntary state, which is strictly limited to the protection of our natural and self-evident rights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Despite being born into poverty John Cooke attained an education as a lawyer. While practicing law he realized the unfairness of the current legal system and wrote about how it ought to be reformed to be a system where a crime is a crime no matter who commits it. After the English Civil War King Charles I was put on trial for his heinous crimes, Cooke was the only lawyer in London brave enough to prosecute the king of the country. Despite his obscurity, John Cooke was a remarkable figure who ultimately led to way in articulating why even heads of state should be answerable to the law. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.