Liberal Philosophy Research Articles

Desde de Hegel, apesar de Hegel, mas com Hegel

this paper examines the reception of Hegel’s philosophy in Latin American “decolonial philosophies” from the 1960s onwards, especially in Enrique Dussel’s philosophy of liberation, whose “presence of Hegel” (sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit) is essential for the substantiation of the “analetic method” in terms of “absolute principle” and “final proposal”, despite the inversions. To this end, the text is divided into three moments. The first examines the significant participation of Hegelian philosophy in the foundation of Latin American decolonial thought. The second moment examines the substantiation of Dussel’s analetical method as a philosophical proposal to overcome Hegelian dialectics in epistemological, ontological and historical terms. In the third moment, we compare the “absolute principle” and “final proposal” of Dussel’s “practical-poietic method” with the principles and purposes of Hegel’s “dialectic of liberation” and “poietic”. In the end, we conclude that the “decolonial turn” claimed above all by Dussel’s method cannot escape the Hegelian idea of “universal history” as the “self-production of absolute freedom” in terms of principle and final solution, despite the methodological inversions.

Iberian Vistas: Franco, Salazar, and American Conservatives

The article takes both a historical and a present-oriented look at the influence of the twentieth-century authoritarian Iberian regimes—including their leaders, Franco and Salazar—on the American conservative movement. It explores the political and religious motivations and major narratives driving Hispanophilia and Lusophilia, and their main advocates. Furthermore, and with a comparative approach, the text analyzes the past and current arguments—in magazines, books, and social media—favoring both regimes, especially in the light of the revival within American conservatism of Catholic Integralism and the defense of alternative representative systems, such as corporatism, that could usher in a new postliberal political regime. The article further explores the potential impact—and inherent limitations—of such strategies and projects, and shows that the revival of interest in figures such as Franco and Salazar is significant not only in terms of a reinvigorated criticism of the political and moral philosophy of liberalism but also regarding the search for new political forms and regimes.

The philosophy of liberation for/with children: in search of liberation and the creation of an ageless pueblo

From its origins, the philosophy of liberation has had both a critical and a creative aspect. The first seeks to critically examine domination, dependency, and the permanent effects of colonization. The second aims to create and re-create the liberation of peoples, developing and reconstituting ways of existing, imagining, thinking, and philosophizing that surpass colonial ways of existing, imagining, thinking, and philosophizing. Thus, for the philosophy of liberation, the liberation of peoples is distinguished from the notions of emancipation and freedom that hide reality under processes of ideologization. An example of the latter is modernity’s notion of emancipation. In this paper, I propose to approach the critical and creative function of the philosophy of liberation from a childist lens in which not only the voices of children are considered, but also the adultist and modern vision of emancipation is overcome. This will be particularly important to continue the legacy of the philosophy of liberation, and its mission to criticize and create from the political and philosophical participation of the victims in the processes of ideologization. From this legacy the children are participants, who, by engaging in pedagogical practices of liberation, act as un pueblo, a collective political actor without age. of the latter is modernity’s notion of emancipation. In this paper, I propose to approach the critical and creative function of the philosophy of liberation from a childist lens in which not only the voices of children are considered, but also the adultist and modern vision of emancipation is overcome. This will be particularly important to continue the legacy of the philosophy of liberation, and its mission to criticize and create from the political and philosophical participation of the victims of the processes of ideologization. Of this legacy, the children are participants, who, by engaging in pedagogical practices of liberation, act as un pueblo, a collective political actor without age.

How not to argue for the presumption of liberty

ABSTRACT Many liberal philosophers claim that people are free to do as they will by default; any interference must be justified. This supposed presumption of liberty does a significant amount of theoretical work for public reason liberals such as Gerald Gaus and John Rawls. This paper shows that Gaus’s explicit defense of a presumption of liberty fails. Gausa and his many followers repeatedly appeal to a particular thought experiment from Stanley Benn. We argue that this thought experiment fails to show that there is a presumption of liberty, but instead shows, at best, the trivial point that when any particular moral concern is specified to be the only relevant concern, then there is a presumption in favor of that concern. Further, Gaus, along with Shaun Nichols, has tried to demonstrate empirically that the intuitions and conclusions he draws from this example are fairly uniform and universal among other moral agents, but we explain why their experimental results do not vindicate any such conclusion. We conclude that undermining the alleged presumption of liberty places public reason liberalism in serious jeopardy.

The philosophy of liberation and social work: a short essay in memory of Enrico Dussel (1934–2023)

ABSTRACT This brief article draws attention to the contributions of the Argentinian-Mexican philosopher and scholar Enrico Dussel who died in November 2023. Only a portion of Dussel’s writings are available in English and his vast intellectual output, frequently laden with puzzling diagrams and figures, makes for a heady mix. In what follows, the aim is simply to identify some of his main ideas, especially as we might relate these to social work. The article explores, therefore: Dussel’s conceptual vocabulary; his emphasis on the need to take care of the planet and its natural resources; his politics and ideas relating to the ‘will-to-live’; his ideas on change; and his three core ethical principles.

Standing beyond Dasein

Abstract This article argues that twentieth-century philosophy of liberation in Latin America should be considered a rhetorical movement just as much as a philosophical one because it exhibits two basic rhetorical tendencies: the prioritization of the concrete over the abstract and the foregrounding of figurative language. To illustrate these rhetorical tendencies, it documents how the twentieth-century cultural anthropologist and philosopher Rodolfo Kusch uses the Spanish words ser and estar to reengineer Heidegger’s concept of Dasein.

Early childhood inquiry and e-learning: recontextualizing a progressive pedagogy in online school

ABSTRACT This is a study of progressive education in the context of virtual preschool. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged teachers globally to adapt to new e-learning environments while finding creative solutions to support child engagement and learning. In this case study, we examined a preschool program in a progressive and multilingual Hong Kong preschool as teachers struggled to adapt the school’s inquiry-based pedagogy to online and at-home learning. Findings suggest that, while teachers had some successes in maintaining the school’s progressive philosophy, teachers and children struggled with unmet needs for social learning.

LEGAL STATE AS A PHILOSOPHICAL AND POLITICAL PROBLEM (ON THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE RF CONSTITUTION)

The article shows the social and philosophical-theoretical foundations of the idea of the rule of law. Based on world political and legal thought, the nature and evolution of this phenomenon is revealed. It is argued that in the presence of the institution of human rights, the mechanism of separation of powers and the predictability of the actions of state power, the rule of law can be assessed not only as an ideal, but also as a real way of organizing the state. It has been demonstrated that public order is a constant compromise between various forces in society, determined by the intensity of social interests. One of the ways to overcome political alienation is the subordination of the state to law, designed to ensure predictability of the actions of state power, guaranteeing a stable legal order. It is emphasized that the issue of the state being bound by law cannot be resolved within the framework of the theory of legal positivism and requires turning to meta-legal concepts (justice, good morals, common good) that lie outside positive law, and their basis and boundaries must be sought in philosophical and legal principles. Special attention is paid to the understanding of the social state - a state that establishes social (material) guarantees for broad layers of the population, ghts poverty and introduces legal mechanisms for this purpose. It is shown that a legal social state is one of the central problems of Russian liberal philosophy of law. The rule of law, from the point of view of its representatives, must be supplemented by the “right to a decent existence”.

Re-interpreting basic values underlying social security law in times of climate change and ecological crisis

Shaping solidarity, guaranteeing basic subsistence, maintaining income and employment activation can be seen as basic values underlying social security law in many European welfare states. This article argues that the meaning of these values or concepts is determined by legitimating discourses within which they are interpreted. While so far Rawls's theory of justice and related egalitarian liberal philosophies have had a great impact on these discourses, the ecological crisis has given rise to new discourses which are inspired by neo-republican theory and green republicanism. Instead of legitimising a capitalist economy based on economic growth, these discourses promote a post-productive society that seeks to realise human flourishing and meaningful lives. The aim of this article is to contribute to the emerging debate on social security reform by explaining how neo-republican theory and green republicanism can fill social security law's basic values or concepts with meaning that is more in line with current ecological concerns. In contrast to previous contributions that have sought to rethink labour and social security law (‘social law’) in a way that is more compatible with our ecological and climate crisis, this article builds on Poststructuralist Discourse Theory to develop its argument.

Originality and Coloniality in Mexican Lifeworlds: a Transdisciplinary Study into Mexico’s Colonial Past and Present

Decolonization is a pressing issue until today. The article approaching it from a point of view of coloniality and originality, cultural processes in which original native and colonial habits and interpretations of reality are internalized and maintained alive in daily life. This is approached from a perspective of phenomenology and the Latin-American Philosophy of Liberation. It observes that coloniality, and originality, is omnipresent in contemporary Mexico, though it is often made absent, and wrongfully made irrelevant. The conclusions are based on the author’s own lived experience of over 18 years. Subsequent articles follow, revealing historical analyses and proposals for liberation.

Capitalism qua development in an era of planetary crisis

ABSTRACT Ecological crisis, massive inequality and war: our world is at a dangerous tipping point. Yet the present global crisis defies simple description and is difficult to explain. To clarify, it is argued that the character of the world crisis today is triple: ecological, economic and political. Underlying all three dimensions is the capitalist form of world society. The consolidation of this capitalist form was accompanied by the emergence of the concept of development within liberal philosophy. During the 20th century, development came to define geographical regions and legitimate capitalist political economy on a world scale. Capitalism came to be taken as development: I call this ‘capitalism qua development’. Because of the triple crisis, capitalism qua development is beginning to undergo a profound change. In an era of rapid global heating and ecological crisis, the tie between capital and development is straining and likely to give way. Capital is becoming more closely attached to the concept of adaptation. I argue that, in the most likely scenario (‘Climate Leviathan’), capitalism qua development will be recast as adaptation. Some signs of this shift are already apparent. Since this is only a likely prospect, three other possibilities – fates of the concept and practice of development – are proposed.

(Political) political liberalism and the constitutional project

Abstract This review essay follows Alessandro Ferrara and Frank Michelman’s dialogic journey into the legitimation-by-constitution idea, which they submit as the institutional expression of political liberalism in Legitimation by Constitution: A Dialogue on Political Liberalism, to illustrate the challenges for contemporary philosophy of political liberalism in its transposition to the constitutional project. It argues that Ferrara and Michelman’s liberal endeavor to answer the fundamental questions surrounding political liberalism rests on a normative conception of identity, which eventually leads them to a dilemma: the project of constitutional democracy they defend and justify is sustained by a liberal ethos, while it is tasked to accommodate those who do not value the liberal form of life. Instead of choosing between the project of constitutional democracy and their liberal soul, Ferrara and Michelman eventually offer a thin constitutional account of political liberalism resembling the international legal order amidst the retrenchment of the liberal ethos. It contends that what liberal democracies need from political liberalism in battling antiliberal forces is not more political philosophy but rather something akin to what Jeremy Waldron calls “political political theory.” It is suggested that political liberalism take a political turn to confront antiliberal forces with an enriched rather than diluted constitutional project.

가치분석 수업의 이론적 기초와 교수전략

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to theoretically explore issues raised in the transition from
 traditional values education to values education based on Western liberal philosophy in the context
 of values analysis by focusing on theory and teaching strategies.
 Methods: Firstly, the researcher analyzed the research outcomes of values education as a direct target
 of curriculum education through investigating values issues. Three fundamental issues arising from
 the changing trends in values education were identified. Subsequently, to gain a detailed understanding
 of these issues the discussion focused on the theoretical foundation of values analysis and teaching
 strategies. The theoretical basis of this theory based on the good reasons approach in analytic ethics
 was then examined. Finally in relation to these three issues, teaching strategies of values analysis
 were explored.
 Results: The two safety devices applied in values analysis teaching strategies, practical judgment,
 and value judgment serve as educational prescriptions to minimize limitations that may arise in granting
 young students the freedom to choose values. Regarding the relativistic issue of value criteria inherent
 in values education based on liberal philosophy, the values analysis theory not only takes a critical
 perspective but also applies it as a target for overcoming and implementing teaching strategies. Lastly,
 concerning the compatibility issue between granting individuals the freedom to choose values and
 establishing the universality of value judgment the values analysis theory applies to teaching strategies
 the possibility that both aspects can be pursued and implemented simultaneously, rather than being
 mutually exclusive.
 Conclusion: It cannot be denied that in the classroom, the act of judging and deciding values is
 given to students. The crucial point is to consider how the results of individual judgments can be
 universally accepted and to understand values education in the discourse of practice beyond the
 discourse of explanation.

DYING WITH DIGNITY AND THE ARGUMENT FROM CONSCIENCE

This paper examines some of the arguments in favor of and against “mercy killing”. Euthanasia is defined as the voluntary or involuntary killing of a terminally ill human being suffering from unbearable pain and intolerable suffering. Literally, euthanasia means “good death” or “dying with dignity.” But the argument for mercy killing hides under the ill motive of emancipating oneself the burden of having to bear a life that appears meaningless. This inquiry argues that such a position is morally unacceptable since it violates life itself. But the reason this paper puts forward is not based on the stewardship argument, one that says life is sacred. The stewardship argument is weak compared to the “right to die” advanced by liberal philosophers. As an alternative, the “argument from conscience”, which puts emphasis on recognizing the moral mistake of reducing the value of human life into something that is instrumentalist, is proposed. James Rachels’s utilitarian argument for mercy killing seeks to diminish the suffering in the world. But what it hides is that it actually mistreats human life as something that is quantifiable. The argument from conscience is a humanist position that is grounded in the love and attention for the dying.

Justice theory as a framework for policy-making consultation

In this paper, we respond to the call by Brockner and Bobocel for leveraging justice research to address critical social issues. Pulling from research within the areas of policy studies and liberal philosophy, we make three major arguments: a) Critical social issues are “wicked problems,” which combine high decision stakes, high diversity of actors, and high uncertainty, and therefore require the simultaneous and coordinated expertise of multiple disciplines for effective intervention; b) to tackle more far-reaching issues such as these requires a broadening of what is considered “just;” and c) those working within the policy realm are aware of and actively applying many of the justice principles outlined by Brockner and Bobocel. We conclude by converting Brockner and Bobocel's evidence-based insights (along with our extensions) into a consultative framework with which policy makers can audit their progress, decisions, and actions. We argue that it is through this sort of application of justice principles that uncertainty can be managed, durable agreements can be reached, and positive social change can be achieved.

Проблема свободы: значение теоретизации классической либеральной философии в становлении концепции компатибилизма

Introduction. Modern discussions about free will are reduced to the confrontation between compatibilism and incompatibilism. The desire of the former to connect the free will of the individual with physical conditioning actualizes the problem of responsibility for the moral actions performed by the individual. Theoretical analysis. The main socio-philosophical reflections on liberty and responsibility in the context of the 17th century liberalism theory are analyzed. The concepts of T. Hobbes, J. Locke and B. Spinoza are interpreted through the prism of the rational justification of liberty, understanding the correlation between a person’s choice and his actions. The paradigm of new thinking, created by liberal philosophers, made it possible to assess the meaning of freedom in a fundamentally different way – from the point of view of the interaction between an individual and society. A comparative analysis of the provisions on free will allows us to assert the aggravation of the problem of moral responsibility, caused by the rational awareness of free action criteria. Conclusion. The ideas of classical liberal-thinking philosophers acted as a theoretical foundation in the development of the compatibilism concept, the supporters of which associated freedom with necessity. Thus, we can talk about the continuity outlined back in antiquity – from freedom as a “cognized necessity” to its understanding as free will.

The German Threat and Discussions about European Unions:
 Features of the Liberal Political and Ideological Continuity
 of the Leaders of the Liberal Party from W. Gladstone to G. Asquith
 in the Late XIX – Early XX Centuries

The subject of the research is the foreign policy of Great Britain in the late 19th – early 20th centuries and the continuity of the foreign policy course of liberal political figures. The purpose of the analysis is the views and activities of significant British liberal politicians on foreign policy issues against the background of the transformation of the philosophy of liberalism and unprecedented
 competition in colonial expansion among major European powers. A number of trends in the development of the political and ideological course of the Liberal Party of Great Britain are demonstrated - a quick rejection of the policy of
 «Splendid Isolation» to the search for friendly powers on the European continent and the direct influence of liberal-imperialist circles on changing the foreign policy strategy. The study of sources confirms that as part of the evolution of the philosophy of liberalism at the end of the 19th century, the idea of the foreign
 policy of Great Britain in the circles of liberal politicians of the country also changed. The author comes to the conclusion that after W. Gladstone left power, the liberals hastened to move away from the policy of «Splendid Isolation». A. Rosebery tried to maintain a balance of power, but, as an adherent of liberal
 imperialism, he actively used military force, not striving to be the first to establish friendship with anyone in Europe. During the period of opposition 1896-1905 not only liberal-imperialists such as E. Grey, H. Asquith, R. Haldane, but also pacifists such as H. Campbell-Bannerman came to the conclusion that a world conflict was inevitable against the backdrop of growing disagreements with Germany and the need to choose an ally in Europe.

Political theology from the global south: Enrique Dussel and the poetics of liberation

In recent decades, thinkers like Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek, and Giorgio Agamben have argued for a serious political engagement with early Christian thought and its emphasis on collectivity and community. Notwithstanding their important theoretical contributions, these writers often remain within a limited Eurocentric framework, foreclosing the possibility of a truly decolonial political theology. Crucially, their relatively recent reappraisals tend to ignore important precursors of Christian Marxism from the Global South, namely liberation theology and the philosophy of liberation, as elaborated by the Latin American philosopher Enrique Dussel. This essay contextualizes Dussel’s liberational thought in the contexts of political theology and literary representation. It pays particular attention to Dussel’s study of the Theological Metaphors of Marx by synthesizing a model of literary inquiry based on his philosophy and applying it to a reading of counter-hegemonic poetry by the Caribbean poet Pedro Mir, namely his long poem “Countersong to Walt Whitman.” This reading makes explicit the implicit theological dimension of Mir’s poetic text. Finally, the essay conceptualizes this interpretive model as a poetics of liberation: a mode of engagement with mutually determining discourses – politics, poetics, aesthetics – as well as a mode of reading which unravels the transformation of these discourses in lyrical forms. Writing from the periphery of the US empire, Mir therefore constructs a mode of address which arms itself with both political and theological discourses, however implicitly. To the empire’s miraculous state of exception, Mir counterpoises a redemptive state of rebellion.

THE IDEA OF “SOCIAL EQUALITY” AND ITS INTERPRETATION IN THE MAIN IDEOLOGICAL PARADIGMS OF WESTERN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. In the analysis of the ideas of social equality, inequality and justice through the prism of the main ideological paradigms of political philosophy, we rely on the ideas of the classics of philosophical thought (Plato, Aristotle, J. de Maistre, K. Marx, A. Camus) and on modern theorists of egalitarianism (J. Rawls, J. Pole, H. Phelps Brown, F. Hayek, R. Dworkin, etc.). The research objective. First, we will consider the different gradations of social equality, and look at the main arguments in favor of equality from the point of view of egalitarianism. Next, we will analyze how the idea of equality is interpreted in three key ideological traditions (paradigms) of Western social and political thought: liberalism, socialism, and conservatism. The statement of basic materials. The main gradations of social equality are considered, in particular, formal equality, equality of treatment, equality of opportunities, equality of consideration. It is noted that the philosophy of conservatism, as nostalgia for the state system of the ancient regime, denies equality and acts as an apologist for social inequality expressed in the idea of natural aristocracy. The philosophy of liberalism focuses attention on the formal aspects of equality before the law and political equality. Liberalism is based on the idea of meritocracy, where the equality of starting opportunities allows us to reveal the inequality of human potential. If the tradition of liberalism is characterized by a combination of the ideas of equality and individualism, then for socialism equality is necessarily connected with the idea of the dominance of the collective over the individual. The highest non-ideological gradation of equality is equality of consideration, which can also be called the ontological equality of all people.

Freedom of speech and cognitive vices. Kant's and current Kantian perspectives

Whereas liberal philosophers, from Mill to Rawls, traditionally make a plea for a very extensive freedom of opinion and of the press, invoking the no harm principle, in the last two decades, such liberal philosophers as Onora O’Neill and Jürgen Habermas, rightly worrying about the rise of antidemocratic and illiberal tendencies in the social media and on the increasing diffusion of fake news, advocate not only a self-limitation of the press, but also for substantial restrictions on the freedom of the press. Yet, their references to Kant and Mill entail a deep misunderstanding of their argument in favor of the freedom of opinion. This article attempts to demonstrate that, instead of sheltering public debates from wrong contents, one should promote the capacity of judgement of all individual participants against cognitive vices, which requires individuals to be exposed not only to true contents, but also to wrong and noxious contents.