The origins of liberalism: liberty and property in the political thought of XVII century

Abstract

One of the central questions for understanding the origins of liberalism is related to important changes in the seventeenth century modes of appropriation and exploitation of property. From the standpoint of the history of political thought the analytical key is to understand how these changes were expressed in political consciousness of the period. Authors of the period founded their explanations of the political crisis of mid-seventeenth century in the perception of changes in property relations, and the issue of ownership appears as the fundamental concept of freedom. Based on these assumptions the paper seeks to understand the origins of liberalism, analysing the relationship between freedom, authority and how they were related to the changes in the forms of property that were occurring in the period.