Title page from Liberty Matters: Smith and The System of Liberty (September, 2013)

Liberty Matters: Smith and The System of Liberty (September, 2013)

This online discussion engages with George Smith on his book The System of Liberty: Themes in the History of Classical Liberalism (CUP 2013). Smith describes the works of the history of political thought which inspired him, and the methodology he uses in approaching the history of ideas. He demonstrates his approach with a brief discussion of one of the key ideas he has identified in the history of classical liberal thought, namely, the idea of “inalienable rights.”