Can Liberalism Reclaim an Ethical Vision?

There is a misconception that liberalism lacks a vision of ‘the good life,’ but liberalism is more ingrained in society than often recognized. It affects media, education, and personal beliefs of those in society both directly and indirectly.

Alexandre Lefebvre is a professor of politics and philosophy at the University of Sydney in Australia, and the author and editor of several books.  His latest work is Liberalism as a Way of Life.

Greg and Alex discuss the historical and philosophical critiques of liberalism, discussing whether liberalism needs a theory of ‘the good life’ to remain relevant and compelling. Alexandre argues that liberalism has permeated various aspects of modern life, contradicting the common view that it is merely a procedural framework. They also explore John Rawls's philosophy, particularly his concepts of the original position and reflective equilibrium, and examine how these ideas can serve as spiritual exercises for cultivating a liberal ethos. Alexandre highlights the need for liberals to live up to their principles and examines the future challenges and opportunities for liberalism in a pluralistic society.

*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

What are the goods of the liberal way of life?

36:14: What are the goods of the liberal way of life? I do think that they are real goods and, at the heart of it, I would say. I mean, I think any conception of the good life kind of parks two or three virtues, kind of limit at four, I know, at the heart of what it means to live well. And then they have kind of derivative qualities and virtues flowing out from that. So, I take liberals at their word that the two major commitments they have are, let's say, to liberty and liberality, or to freedom and fairness as a kind of interpretation of what it means to be generous. And out of that comes a whole personality structure. That's what I believe. A whole psychology emanates from that. And it behooves us as liberals to cultivate that, not just because it makes us not jerks and not hypocrites, but because living according to those values and those virtues is intrinsically rewarding and joyful. [37:09] So, that's the first thing I want to say: that the liberal personality isn't just a political thing. I want to say that it disseminates into all aspects of our life, from how we deal with our wife or our husband, our romantic partners, how we raise our kids, to the kind of jokes we laugh at, the kind of stuff that makes us upset, et cetera, et cetera.

Why liberalism needs more than rules

09:14: If liberalism can't compel ethical assent and robust commitment, then what are we talking about? We’re done for, we can't campaign forever on just a set of rules, however noble they are. There has to be a there, there.

Why do people reject liberalism?

34:27: I think that a lot of people saying no to liberalism, it's not because they can't live up to its demands, but because they look at the ideals and say, no, not for me, that this is not the kind of life I want. And that the vision of the good life and the good quality is in a different direction. And I think that those are principled rejections of liberalism that make, for me, a lot of sense. And that if we want to understand the attraction of illiberalism, postliberal, all that stuff, we can't just think that these people are either cowards or afraid, or that their leaders are just motivated by the goods of tyranny—kind of sex, power, money, all that stuff. That is part of the picture, no doubt, but they're motivated by genuine ideals that liberalism crowds out.

Liberalism as a way of life

27:16: Philosophy is a way of life. And what I try to do in my book [Liberalism as a Way of Life] is suggest that liberalism could be seen, sort of, in the same vein.

Show Links:

Recommended Resources: 

• Liberalism
• John Rawls
• Adrian Vermeule
• Karl Marx
• Søren Kierkegaard
• Epicureanism
• Liberal Democracy
• A Theory of Justice
• Alexis de Tocqueville
• Last Man
• Judith N. Shklar
• Misanthropy
• Pierre Hadot
• Iris Murdoch
• Dave Chappelle
• Hannah Gadsby
• Patrick Deneen
• French Revolution
• Cult of Reason

Guest Profile:

• AlexLefebvre.com
• Faculty Profile at the University of Sydney
• LinkedIn Profile
• Social Profile on X

Guest Work:

• Amazon Author Page
• Liberalism as a Way of Life
• Human Rights and the Care of the Self
• Human Rights as a Way of Life: On Bergson's Political Philosophy
• The Image of Law: Deleuze, Bergson, Spinoza
• Freedom: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1904–1905
• Interpreting Bergson: Critical Essays
• The Subject of Human Rights
• Henri Bergson
• Bergson, Politics, and Religion

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• Helena Rosenblatt
• Samuel Moyn

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