A Philosophical History of Freedom

Overview

Curriculum

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Introduction
1.1 - Course Overview
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Freedom or Power
2.1 - There are only two political philosophies
2.2 - Frédéric Bastiat: production versus spoliation
2.3 - Lord Acton: Freedom is the Engine of History
2.4 - Marx: History as Class Struggle
2.5 - Murray Rothbard: State versus Society
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The origins of freedom: Antiquity
3.1 - The invention of critical rationality by the Greeks
3.2 - The invention of law by the Romans
3.3 - The Fall of Rome
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The origins of freedom: the Middle Ages
4.1 - The affirmation of human freedom
4.2 - Reason and faith: an open competition
4.3 - Religion and Politics: The Birth of the Sovereign State
4.4 - Biblical Ethics: The Sacred Value of the Individual
4.5 - The First Sketches of Capitalism
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The Rise of Freedom: From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment
5.1 - Plea for Religious Tolerance
5.2 - Plea for Economic Freedom
5.3 - A Key Year for the Free World: 1776
5.4 - The Age of Revolutions
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Apogee and Decline: From the 19th to the 20th Century
6.1 - The Liberty of the Moderns
6.2 - Strengths and Weaknesses of Democracy
6.3 - The Marxist Critique of Capitalism
6.4 - The Austrian Critique of Marxism
6.5 - The Road to Serfdom
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The Rise of the Welfare State in the 20th Century
7.1 - The Triumph of Keynes
7.2 - Abandoning the Gold Standard
7.3 - Conclusion: the power of ideas
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Final Section
8.1 - Review & Rating
8.2 - Final exam
8.3 - Conclusion