Does morality save the people of today? The economic theoretical traditions of liberalism, particularly from the perspective of an ethical foundation

Abstract

Ethics has always been playing a great role in the theoretical traditions of liberalism. The paper is trying to find the answer for the question if morality could save the people of today. Starting from the ancient philosophers and the authors of the era of Enlightenment, the classics of moral philosophy, following with the thinkers of the 19th and 20th century, liberalism has only been able to formulate meaningful proposals capable of bringing about social progress when it was centred around morality and virtue. Many scholars today claim that liberalism failed but this study argues for a historical turning point when liberalism can be renewed and returned to its classic values. The study analyses the ordo-liberal era with its Kantian tradition that helped ordo-liberal theorists in implementing liberal values in practice. According to the statement of this paper, an appropriate education system, good governance and fair public incentives are essential for opening a new page of liberal history. The study contains an educational case study and principles of social organisation that can help to reach the desired result for a well-working liberal state and governance. The author of this treatise has never gave up the hope that the constitution should be written for good citizens but she calls for strong ethical basements of the education and legal system that can help the society to return to the “old true”.