Join us next week for our Annual Knox Lecture. This year, it will be delivered by David Enoch from the University of Oxford and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Here is all you need to know.
Title: Shameless Liberalism: A Vision
Abstract: Despite everything, liberalism remains the one true political philosophy. Liberal principles – something about liberty and autonomy, something about equality, perhaps some universalist and rationalist assumptions – are still the right fundamental principles for political philosophy.But this doesn’t mean – nor did you think – that there are no more troubles for liberalism. The most dominant version of liberalism (in English-speaking political philosophy) over the past half century is weak and confused, philosophically and politically. We should do better. And there are many other problems – new and old – to face.
The liberalism that we need to defend (not just theoretically) is robust and self-confident intellectually, but very realistic and careful politically. It is in no way skeptical or relativistic, but it is pragmatically flexible. It is philosophically uncompromising, but politically willing to compromise about pretty much everything.
This paper is a broad-brush-stroke presentation and defense of this shameless kind of liberalism.
Location: School I
