ABSTRACT
In Adam Smith’s time the laissez-faire philosophy was a radical one, precisely because it seemed to be in accord with the ideals of political democracy. It was only after laissez-faire economics and the conception of freedom linked to this mode of thought were energetically challenged in the nineteenth century by the exponents of socialism that laissez-faire became identified with a conservative world view. The ideal of individual freedom is embodied in the political philosophy of liberalism. Any internal constraints, e.g., fear of punishment, let alone dictates of conscience, are explicitly excluded from what Hobbes regards as impediments to freedom. Another casualty of Karl Marx’s analysis of the capitalist system was the notion of freedom as a blessing in the social environment of laissez-faire economics. Dramatic evidence of the deification of property is seen in the bizarre behavior of the so-called “survivalists,” a cult spawned by the threat of nuclear war.
