Social 30-1 philosophers/ important people

ideologies

Baron De Montesquieu

• To protect freedom, power must be separated into three branches:

  • Legislative (makes laws)

  • Executive (carries out laws)

  • Judicial (interprets laws)

• Promotes checks and balances to prevent tyranny.

• Impact: Inspired constitutional government and democratic systems.

Classical liberalism

John Maynard Keynes

• Ideology: Modern Liberalism, Mixed Economy

• Core Ideas:

  • Believed capitalism needs government regulation to avoid booms and busts.

  • Supported public spending to create jobs and stimulate demand during recessions.

• Impact: Influenced welfare states and post-WWII economic policies (e.g. Canada’s healthcare, education, and social safety nets).

Franklin D. Roosevelt(FDR)

• Ideology: Modern Liberalism

• Core Ideas:

  • Launched the New Deal during the Great Depression.

  • Believed in government responsibility to help citizens through social programs.

  • Combined capitalism with social safety nets.

• Impact: Shifted liberalism from hands-off (classical) to hands-on (modern) government.

Karl Marx

• Ideology: Communism, Radical Socialism

• Core Ideas:

  • History is driven by class conflict (bourgeoisie vs. proletariat).

  • Capitalism leads to exploitation of workers.

  • Advocated for revolution, abolition of private property, and collective ownership.

• Impact: Inspired Marxist revolutions (Russia, China, Cuba); heavily anti-capitalist.

Edmund Burke

• Ideology: Conservatism

• Core Ideas:

  • Valued tradition, religion, and slow change.

  • Opposed the French Revolution for being too radical and chaotic.

  • Believed elites and institutions maintain social order.

• Impact: Father of modern conservatism; warned against quick political change.

• Reactionary

Vladimir Lenin

• Ideology: Communism / Revolutionary Marxism

• Core Ideas:

  • Led the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), overthrew capitalism.

  • Created a one-party state, abolished private ownership.

  • Used censorship, propaganda, and a secret police to maintain control.

Joseph Stalin

• Ideology: Totalitarian Communism

• Core Ideas:

  • Centralized power in himself (cult of personality).

  • Imposed collectivization, 5-Year Plans, purges, and Gulag system.

  • Oppressed all opposition.

• Impact: Turned Marx’s ideas into a brutal dictatorship.

Benito Mussolini

• Ideology: Fascism

• Core Ideas:

  • Extreme nationalism, militarism, and obedience to the state.

  • Anti-liberal, anti-communist, anti-democratic.

  • Promoted corporatism (state controls business/labour).

• Impact: Founded fascism in Italy, destroyed individual freedoms.

Adolf Hitler

• Ideology: Nazism (a form of Fascism)

• Core Ideas:

  • Extreme racism, anti-Semitism, and ultra-nationalism.

  • Total control of media, education, and society.

  • Created a police state, eliminated all political opposition.

• Impact: Most destructive totalitarian regime in history; responsible for WWII and Holocaust.

Thomas Hobbes

• Human Nature: People are naturally selfish, greedy, and violent.

• Beliefs:

  • To prevent chaos, people must give up freedoms to a strong, absolute ruler.

  • Believed in the Leviathan: a powerful government that maintains order.

  • Opposite of liberalism—favored security over freedom.

• Ideology: Authoritarianism, early justification for absolute monarchy

John Locke

• Human Nature: People are reasonable and capable of self-government.

• Beliefs:

  • Natural rights: life, liberty, property.

  • Social contract: government protects rights or can be overthrown.

  • Strong influence on democracy, rule of law, and limited government.

• Ideology: Classical liberalism

Volatiare

• Human Nature: People are flawed but capable of reason.

• Beliefs:

  • Strong advocate for freedom of speech, religion, and civil liberties.

  • Critical of the Catholic Church and absolute monarchy.

  • Supported enlightened despotism (a ruler who respects rights).

• Ideology: Enlightenment liberalism

John Stuart Mill

• Human Nature: People are rational but society must protect vulnerable individuals.

• Beliefs:

  • Freedom of speech, expression, and individual rights are sacred.

  • Harm Principle: freedom only limited to prevent harm to others.

  • Supported women’s rights, minority rights, and education.

• Ideology: Transition between classical and modern liberalism

Herbert Hoover

• Human Nature: Strong belief in individualism and self-reliance.

• Beliefs:

  • Opposed heavy government intervention in the economy.

  • Believed in volunteerism and private charity rather than state programs.

  • Criticized for limited response to the Great Depression.

• Ideology: Classical liberalism / conservative liberalism

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• Human Nature: People are naturally good but corrupted by society.

• Beliefs:

  • Advocated direct democracy and general will (majority rule).

  • Believed in equality and the common good over individual property rights.

  • Criticized inequality caused by capitalism and private property.

• Ideology: Proto-socialist / collectivist liberal

Friedrich Hayek

• Ideology: Classical liberalism / libertarianism

• Beliefs:

  • Opposed socialism and central planning.

  • Believed government control over economy leads to tyranny (The Road to Serfdom).

  • Advocated for free markets, individual liberty, and limited government.

• Impact: Strong influence on neoliberal thinkers like Reagan and Thatcher.

Milton Friedman

• Ideology: Neo-liberalism, economic libertarianism

• Beliefs:

  • Opposed welfare state; favored deregulation and privatization.

  • Promoted monetarism (controlling money supply to prevent inflation).

  • Argued against income redistribution.

• Impact: Major architect of free-market revival in late 20th century.

Margret Thatcher

• Ideology: Neoliberal conservatism

• Beliefs:

  • Reduced government spending, privatized public industries, cut taxes.

  • Opposed trade unions and socialist policies.

  • Believed in individual responsibility, not dependence on state.

• Impact: Shifted the UK toward free-market capitalism and limited welfare.

Ronald Reagan

• Ideology: Neoliberal conservatism

• Beliefs:

  • Promoted “Reaganomics”: tax cuts, deregulation, and less government.

  • Strong anti-communist; expanded military.

  • “Government is not the solution… it is the problem.”

• Impact: Helped dismantle Cold War communism, pushed laissez-faire economics.

Mahatma Gandhi

• Ideology: Anti-colonial, democratic socialist, spiritual collectivism

• Beliefs:

  • Promoted non-violence (ahimsa) and civil disobedience.

  • Opposed imperialism; promoted self-rule (swaraj) and local economy.

  • Emphasized spiritual and moral responsibility over materialism.

• Impact: Led India to independence, inspired civil rights and anti-imperialist

Rosa Parks

• Ideology: Civil Rights / liberal democratic activism

• Beliefs:

  • Fought for racial equality, especially against segregation.

  • Refused to give up her seat on a bus → sparked Montgomery Bus Boycott.

• Impact: Symbol of civil disobedience and liberal rights movements in the U.S.

Teddy Roosevelt

• Ideology: Progressive liberalism

• Beliefs:

  • Supported government regulation of business (trust-busting).

  • Promoted environmental protection and workers' rights.

  • Believed in capitalism with reforms to prevent abuse.

• Impact: Helped launch the progressive movement, shaped modern liberalism.

Robert Owen

• Ideology: Utopian socialism

• Beliefs:

  • Advocated for cooperative communities with shared ownership.

  • Believed improved working/living conditions would fix social problems.

  • Emphasized education and equality.

• Impact: Influenced later socialist thinkers like Marx; early form of collectivism.

Mikhail Gorbachev

• Ideology: Reform Communism

• Beliefs:

  • Introduced glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring).

  • Tried to combine socialism with liberal reforms (transparency, elections).

• Impact: Ended the Cold War, collapsed Soviet-style communism, moved USSR toward liberal democracy (unsuccessfully).

Winston Churchill

• Ideology: Conservative liberal

• Beliefs:

  • Opposed fascism, communism, and supported parliamentary democracy.

  • Strong supporter of freedom, national sovereignty, and the rule of law.

  • Led Britain through WWII.

• Impact: Symbol of liberal resistance to totalitarianism and Nazism.