Theme 1: Human nature
| Thinker | Publication (date) | Memory trigger | Summary | Real-world policy example | Useful extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locke | Two Treatises (1690); Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) | Rational + self-interested + natural rights | Humans are rational, pursue their own interests but are mindful of others, and are governed by God-given natural law. | US Declaration of Independence (1776): Jefferson drew on Locke for the “unalienable rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. | Tabula rasa (blank slate). Rationality is innate. |
| Wollstonecraft | A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) | Rationality is genderless | Women are as rational as men and only seem inferior because they are denied education. | Expansion of women’s education, e.g. Girton College, Cambridge (1869). Suffragist Millicent Fawcett wrote the introduction to an 1891 edition of Vindication. | “I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.” |
| Mill | On Liberty (1859) | Developmental individualism / individuality | Human nature is not fixed; people keep progressing through free thought and debate. | Elementary Education Act (1870): reflects Mill’s argument that the state should make sure every child is educated so they can develop. | Rationality is a potential. Higher vs lower pleasures. |
Theme 2: The state
| Thinker | Publication (date) | Memory trigger | Summary | Real-world policy example | Useful extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locke | Two Treatises (1690) | Consent + limited government | The state is a “necessary evil” created by a social contract to protect life, liberty and property. Its legitimacy depends on consent. | Glorious Revolution and Bill of Rights (1689): Locke’s work justified removing James II. Later, the US Constitution (1787) adopted the separation of powers. | Right to rebel. Government as a “trust”. |
| Rawls | A Theory of Justice (1971) | Enabling state / justice as fairness | The state should help the less fortunate advance through public spending and services. | Sure Start (1998): New Labour’s support for disadvantaged young children. As a general enabling-state example (not Rawls himself), you can use FDR’s New Deal (1933–39) or the Liberal reforms (1906–14). | Positive liberty. Modern liberalism. |
| Friedan | The Feminine Mystique (1963) | Legislate against sex discrimination | The state should pass laws to end discrimination against women and secure equality of opportunity. | US Civil Rights Act (1964), Title VII, which banned sex discrimination in employment. NOW, which she co-founded in 1966, pushed for it to be enforced. UK parallels: Equal Pay Act (1970) and Sex Discrimination Act (1975). | “The problem that has no name.” She campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment. |
Theme 3: Society
| Thinker | Publication (date) | Memory trigger | Summary | Real-world policy example | Useful extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locke | Two Treatises (1690); A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) | Natural society | Society existed before the state, in a state of nature with natural laws and rights. The state is formed later to protect it. | US First Amendment (1791): religious freedom reflects Locke’s toleration. Natural rights also underpin the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). | The state of nature was peaceful but “inconvenient” because there was no neutral judge. |
| Mill | On Liberty (1859) | Harm principle + tolerance | The best society combines individuality with tolerance. Individuals should be free unless they harm others. | Sexual Offences Act (1967): decriminalised homosexuality in England and Wales after the Wolfenden Report (1957), which used harm-principle reasoning about private behaviour. | Tyranny of the majority. Self-regarding vs other-regarding actions. |
| Rawls | A Theory of Justice (1971) | Veil of ignorance | Behind the veil, people would choose a society that allows inequality only if the poorest benefit. | Pupil Premium (2011): extra school funding for disadvantaged pupils, a Liberal Democrat policy in the coalition. It is a clear example of the difference principle. | Original position. Difference principle. Accepts unequal outcomes. |
Theme 4: The economy
| Thinker | Publication (date) | Memory trigger | Summary | Real-world policy example | Useful extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locke | Two Treatises (1690) | Natural right to private property | The state must protect private property and act as a neutral arbiter of trade. | US Fifth Amendment (1791): no one can be deprived of “life, liberty, or property” without due process. | Labour theory of property: you own what you “mix your labour” with. No taxation without consent. |
| Wollstonecraft | A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) | Liberated women energise the economy | Educated, independent women would strengthen a free-market economy. | Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act (1919): opened professions such as law and the civil service to women. | Financial independence for women, not reliance on marriage. |
| Mill | Principles of Political Economy (1848); On Liberty (1859) | Laissez-faire | Free-market capitalism is vital to progress because it rewards individual enterprise and initiative. | Free-trade policy of Gladstone’s Liberal governments, building on the repeal of the Corn Laws (1846). These reflect the classical liberal laissez-faire consensus of the time. | Laissez-faire = minimal state interference in the economy. Contrast with Rawls’s redistribution. |