Judith Shklar The Liberalism Of Fear Analysis

In Judith Shklar’s well known 1989 essay, The Liberalism of Fear, Shklar analyzes her view on political liberalism. In other words, Judith believes that liberalism has only one potential purpose/goal. Judith Shklar mentions how the goal for liberalism is to ultimately fix the political conditions which is significant for personal freedom. Using this idea, Judith Shklar further demonstrates her views on liberalism by comparing liberalism of fear and other types of liberalism in her essay ( such as John Locked John Stuart Mill) . Judith Shklar believes that John Locke’s liberalism of natural rights is simply an attempt to fulfill an determined standard order “The liberalism of natural rights envisages a just society composed of politically sturdy citizens, each able and willing to stand up for himself and others” (26-27). Shklar further contrasts liberalism of fear to John Mill’s liberalism of personal development as well. Page 23 of her essay illustrates how Judith Shkalr views on liberalism was linked to her belief was that we must face cruelty first. “ Cruelty is the deliberate infliction of physical, and secondarily emotional pain upon a weaker person by stronger ones in order to achieve some end, tangible or intangible, of the latter.” (29) This represents how Shklar believes that liberalism is the possibility of making the evil of cruelty. Following this idea, Judith Shklar argues that liberals ought to treat

Previously mentioned, Shklar believes how the limited power to the state is the solution to individuals freedom and liberty not being in danger. She also believes that the liberalism of fear is not similar to anarchism. Anarchist’s tend to believe that people do not need state power or any rules of law to live peacefully, but Shklar suggests that rules are significant to liberalism in various ways because the rules of law will protects ones individual