[Cristoforo]

Lately I have been thinking a lot on these two concepts, mainly the nobility of the first versus the degeneration of the second. How can one distinguish between freedom (as in a basic right) and liberalism?

These are the definitions that wikipedia gives to freedom and liberalism:

Freedom is the right, or the capacity, of self-determination, as an expression of the individual free will.

Traditionally philosophers have distinguished two senses of the word "freedom". The most common use is "negative" and is defined as the absence of constraint. Thus for Hobbes, one is free when the law is silent on a subject. But "freedom" is also used in another positive sense, where freedom is defined as the ability to transcend the social and cultural restraints which limit the potential of the individual for self-actualization. This latter sense is common to the romantic and individualistic philosophy of 19th century Germany. Another common distinction made between kinds of freedom is the difference between "freedom from" social and political ills (which is really more accurately described as safety or security), and "freedom to" do what one wants (for which the term "liberty" is more precise). In Anglo-American legal thought, there is a need connection between "freedom" and human rights in that freedom is often defined in terms of lack of government interference. This view of freedom has been criticized by many, including Marxists, for ignoring the social conditions and disabilities that a person may be subject to.

Liberalism is rooted in the Enlightenment, the central developer of which is seventeenth century English political philosopher John Locke. Liberalism is the view that the autonomy and dignity of the individual should be protected and not infringed by the state. Consequently, liberalism holds, we have certain civil and political liberties and rights that it is the duty of the government to uphold, and government derives its authority to govern by law by the consent of the governed. In Locke's day, liberalism was contrasted with monarchism, mercantilism, and various kind of religious fundamentalism; since then, it has developed in many ways and been contrasted with many different other political theories, especially socialism and various forms of collectivism.

John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Immanuel Kant developed the concept of the "social contract", though the writings of Hobbes and Rousseau include many illiberalisms. Also John Stuart Mill, nationalism.

Early liberals believed in individual rights and limited government. This is now, in the United States anyway, called "libertarianism." The word "liberal" still has this meaning in Europe, but not in the United States, where it more closely describes the ideology known as "new liberalism" or an alternative purely political doctrine known as political liberalism. Modern liberal thought may be distinguished into classical liberalism and new liberalism (also "revisionist liberalism").

If someone asked you the difference between freedom and liberalism in as fewer words as possible, what would you answer?