Exploring “Off-Liberalism”
Beatrice Institute, one of our sponsoring organizations, recently released this exciting podcast episode. The episode asks: liberalism is often taken to be essentially about the promotion of radical individual autonomy, but might this understanding of liberalism be only one kind of liberalism? And, if so, why does that matter?
In this episode, Weston and Fred discuss the meaning of "off-liberalism," an understanding of liberalism that highlights how disparate historical, cultural, and philosophical sources contribute to what is often labeled as "liberal" today, complicating the idea that liberalism is essentially about maximizing personal autonomy.
Weston and Fred discuss the practical stakes of thinking about liberalism this way, the intersection of theology and political theory, and how these ideas can inform contemporary governance at a time of growing dissatisfaction with liberalism.
Tune in for an enriching dialogue that blends philosophy, theology, and practical politics, offering fresh insights into the nature of liberal practices.
Read Fred’s original Genealogies of Modernity article here.
Listen here on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon.
00:00 Preview of the discussion to come.
00:33 Introduction
02:06 Fred Bauer reads his article: “The Diverse Roots and Routes of Liberty”
09:20 “It's this idea of “off-ness,” doing things aslant, doing things askew… to look at the things that we think of as liberal from different angles and to try to find heterogeneity.”
10:06 Liberalism has developed over time with a string of similarities rather than one doctrine.
13:08 Off-liberalism is interested in the ways our own self-actualization participates in things outside of ourselves.
17:09 “...our self-love and selfishness makes us misunderstand ourselves and the world around us, and it actually causes a confusion of our insight into the world.”
20:42 Theology has a role to play in off-liberalism, providing it with the talking points of human flourishing.
26:46 In American partisan politics, off-liberalism could be the key to unity on many issues.
30:27 Bauer discusses whether off-liberalism can influence the upcoming 2024 election.
32:43 “Do feel hopeful? Well, I'll put it this way. I think hope is a virtue. I aspire after virtues, so I aspire to be hopeful and I could see ways in which the fundamental underpinnings of the liberal – in this non-ideological sense – I could see ways in which could be replenished.”
Links:
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America
Recent papal document on human dignity: Dignitas Infinita
“Tradition and the Individual Talent” by T.S. Eliot
First Things article “Rights Without Right” by David Walsh
“No Man is an Island” by John Dunne
Art which combines politics and theology: “Prayer at Valley Forge”