On Being Economical with the Truth: Some Liberal Reflections

In this study, the British philosopher Margaret Canovan analyses the enigmatic questions raised by the philosophical principles of liberal doctrine. Her discussion moves us from the familiar traditional "contradiction" between the liberal commitment to the Enlightenment and its conservative critics, to the worrying "convergence" between two traditions (the liberal and the conservative), both of which depend on useful illusions and myths that do not stand up to public scrutiny. Canovan begins her analysis with Roger Scruton's 1988 paper critiquing Liberalism in the name of community. He argued that liberal principles are inconsistent because they downplay the social loyalties necessary for social cohesion and without any justification take the vocabulary of individualism as a self-evident frame of reference. For her part, Canovan argues that this treatment was controversial and disturbing, because it drew attention to the fact that liberal values and principles might be considered weak ideals that need constant protection, especially if they are always the subject of free public debate. 

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In this study, the British philosopher Margaret Canovan analyses the enigmatic questions raised by the philosophical principles of liberal doctrine. Her discussion moves us from the familiar traditional "contradiction" between the liberal commitment to the Enlightenment and its conservative critics, to the worrying "convergence" between two traditions (the liberal and the conservative), both of which depend on useful illusions and myths that do not stand up to public scrutiny. Canovan begins her analysis with Roger Scruton's 1988 paper critiquing Liberalism in the name of community. He argued that liberal principles are inconsistent because they downplay the social loyalties necessary for social cohesion and without any justification take the vocabulary of individualism as a self-evident frame of reference. For her part, Canovan argues that this treatment was controversial and disturbing, because it drew attention to the fact that liberal values and principles might be considered weak ideals that need constant protection, especially if they are always the subject of free public debate. 

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