Is liberalism collapsing under the weight of its contradictions?

In this Conversation with Peter Boghossian, Peter sits down with economist and political thinker Philip Pilkington to examine the unraveling of liberalism, not as a policy failure, but as a philosophical dead end. From John Locke’s contract theory to the chaos of contemporary identity politics, Pilkington argues that liberalism has been stretched beyond its functional use and now teeters on the edge of absurdity.

They explore what comes next: a return to civilizational roots, a post-liberal future shaped by ancient ethics, economic realism, and the re-emergence of pre-liberal norms. Peter pushes back on Christian nationalism, the legitimacy crisis in Western institutions, and the techno-optimism surrounding AI, while both wrestle with the future of Western civilization, if there is one.

Liberalism is not evolving, it’s collapsing. And what replaces it may not be liberal at all.

Find Philip Pilkington:

Host of the Multipolarity Podcast: @MultipolarPod.

Follow Philip on X: @philippilk

Follow Philip on Substack: https://substack.com/@macrocosm

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