Main principles of liberalism: 

Liberalism is a right to get freedom from slavery and restrictions, and also to work as per one’s discretion. 

The following are the main principles of liberalism: 

1. Faith in one’s rationality: 

In medieval period, a person’s life was dominated by uncontrolled impact of religion, blind faith and popal dictats, and there was oppression and torture in place of use of rationality to regulate one’s life. In religious domain, all directives of the church had to be followed. In royal domain, there was a strong control of tyrannical monarchy, and in social domain, conservative conventions filled with blind faith were rampant.

In this situation, soul of an individual and rationality was suppressed, because of which, an individual and the society were at loss. The end of medieval time came with the call of renaissance that a human being is a logical creature. According to liberals, all the decisions in all the fields of a person’s life should be taken with wisdom and rationality. Summarily, liberalism supports self contemplation.

2. Negation of historical traditions: 

The development of liberalism has taken place in the form of reaction against arbitrary and oppressive governance of state, church and Pope in medieval social system. According to liberals, a new society should be formed on the basis of application of wisdom and logic, by ending ancient historical and traditional basis.

3. Support to freedom of individual: 

Liberalism is based on the fundamental convention that a person is born free and freedom is a natural right of every person. In this way, he should be given full freedom in political, economical, social, intellectual and religious spheres.

4. Society and state are artificial institutions: 

Liberalism does not accept the state and society as a divine institution. According to it, these are artificial institutions. Formation of a state and its development is done by the people for fulfilling their necessities.

5. An individual is accomplishment and society and state are means: 

Liberalism accepts an individual as an accomplishment and the state as means. A person forms a society or a state for his own interests, and hence there can be no community, society or state, for which a human being can be sacrificed.

6. Supporter of natural rights of an individual: 

The supporters of liberalism have faith in the concept of natural rights of an individual. They deem certain rights for an individual as his natural rights since his birth. As per the notion of Locke, an individual has three main natural rights : life, right to wealth and right to freedom. A state carries the obligation to protect these rights.

7. Concept of an individual without a king: 

Liberal thinkers believe that a human being is naturally free and perfect. He is a master of his own will. Every individual has different aspects of personality. He can render good for the development of his personality and also for materialistic and spiritual welfare as per his own discretion.

8. Belief in administration of law and equality of persons: 

Liberalism has faith in equality of person and administration of law. It accepts that all persons should be deemed equal in the context of law and administration. They should not be discriminated against on the basis of caste, gender, religion or language, etc.

9. Recognition of idea of a secular state: 

Liberals propagate the idea of non – intervention of the state in context to religion. They also believe in religious freedom and tolerance. It is quite important for a state to be secular for the freedom of an individual.

10. Supporter of the principle of nationalism: 

It is a convention of liberals that the people of every state have moral and political right to launch struggle against foreign administration’s subordination. According to it, freedom of an individual can be preserved only when the administrator is of his consent and choice.

11. Support of administration of democratic system: 

Liberalism believes in peaceful and democratic changes and improvements in the society, in place of revolutionary changes.

12. Flexible outlook in relation to objects and duties of states: 

There has been a change in the outlook of liberals in respect to objects and duties of a state. In this context, their outlook can be put into two divisions:

• Traditional outlook 
• Modern outlook. Traditional liberalism supports a limited scope of a state, whereas modern outlook believes in the concept of public welfare state.