Liberalism Rekindled

Liberalism is in crisis. Such liberalism – the political philosophy characterized in terms of a commitment to individual liberty and autonomy, basic equality, rationalist and universalist aspirations, and some version of liberal democracy – is not merely losing grounds, it has also become harder to defend philosophically. Objections have been raised both from the right and the left, some of which cannot be easily dismissed. One possible response to this predicament is to abandon liberalism altogether. The current research project however is motivated by the thought that liberalism’s underlying values and commitments remain true as ever. Rather than to respond to some leading objections to it in a minimal way, defending liberalism requires to fully understand the insights underlying such objections, and re-conceive it in a way that fully accommodates them.

Take the example of a central tenet of liberalism that consent often makes a normative difference. However, as feminist and other critics of liberalism have emphasized, things are much more complex: Whether consent is valid may depend on the conditions in which it was given. It may depend on what alternative options there were. It may depend on the specific history of the one giving the consent, the one accepting it, and of their relationship. And when it comes to politics the role of consent faces still other difficulties. What is needed, over and above specific discussions of problems such as these, is a holistic picture of the normative role of consent, that will stay loyal to underlying liberal values, yet accommodate the insights of relevant critiques. What is needed is a unified theory of flawed consent.

Consent is but one part of this project. In the same spirit of remaining loyal to underlying liberal values, while taking very seriously some of the problems with traditional versions of liberalism that critics have been highlighting, other topics to be discussed include:

• The relation between truth and power: liberals are right that politics is not just about raw power, and that truth is indispensable in normative political philosophy, but critics too are right that thoughts of power have to take center stage.

• The liberal attitude towards communities, and specifically, towards illiberal ones.

• The relation between political philosophy and real-life politics.

While the philosophical literature does contain discussions of some of these and related specific topics, what is lacking is an overall assessment of liberalism, vindicating its underlying commitments in a way informed by what we now know, both about the world and about liberalism’s problems. Filling this gap is the aim of this research project.