Political ideology: Personal freedom + economic limits Options

[mipadi]

Is there a name (and/or writings) about a form of political ideology that combines the emphasis on personal freedom found in libertarianism with the economic "restraint", if you will, of socialism? Libertarianism's emphasis of the individual and individual freedom is interesting, but the emphasis on laissez-faire capitalism doesn't sit well with me. Social democracy comes close to these ideas, but I don't know if it encompasses them completely.

[JonHMChan]

As far as I know, very few political philosophers (at least when it comes to early modern political philosophy) talk about States in terms of personal freedom versus economic restraint, specifically. In addition, the terms "personal freedom" and "economic restraint" (esp. "restraint") can mean very many things and encompass a large range of possible topics that political philosophers deal with. Perhaps the more appropriate question would be: what political philosophy allows for a large amount of personal freedom while maintaining a strong governmental check on the freedom these individuals?

The first political philosophy that comes to mind for me is Hobbes. According to Hobbes, human beings have, by nature, a freedom to anything and everything. This leads to a problem, of course, when people begin to fight over the same things, and people can easily default on transactions made without the government in power. The idea goes that when the State is formed, implying the purpose of the State, governments impose harsh punishment on those who default on transactions to deter others from doing so. That's really all the government is meant to do. You can imagine people being allowed to do pretty much whatever they want under a Hobbesian government, but if they step out of line, the hammer comes down on them.

There are a few others, but that's my two cents. I'm a political phil study, so feel free ask any questions.

[mipadi]

By "philosophy", I really meant "ideology". I don't so much mean to discuss philosophical underpinnings, as find writings for a specific kind of sociopolitical/economic ideology. As noted, more things like "social democracy", rather than a purely theoretical discussion of the points of view of Hobbes, Locke, etc.

Simply put, an ideology that emphasizes personal freedoms while allowing for a planned or mixed economy with some regulation.

[iRapediCarly]

No, I believe your answer is the closest I can come up with. What if we just combined the articles of confederation with marxism. Then take a hit out of a bong.

[JonHMChan]

I see what you mean. If that's the case then, I'd agree. Social Democracy is probably the closest model we've threaded out so far that at least resembles the relationship between individual freedom and governmental power that you're looking for.

However, when it comes to the topic of the philosophical underpinnings of such models, you might actually find some stock in early modern political philosophy. Political philosophy is grouped pretty commonly with ethics, simply because the main issue at hand is how we can justify the State's special actions (specifically the use of coercion) on the people that it governs. Political philosophy sometimes has very little to do with the more practical (I suppose is the word for it) aspects of the State/citizen relationship, and more with its ethical implications.