Critique and defense of liberal thought in modern context

From: jimruttshow8596

Introduction

Philosophical liberalism is presented as a fundamental alternative to the prevailing “social justice” movement, which is heavily influenced by postmodern thought [07:14:00]. James Lindsay, author of Cynical Theories, and co-author Helen Pluckrose, argue that understanding liberalism’s core methods and principles is crucial to navigating modern societal challenges [08:17:00].

Liberalism as a Foundational Method

At its core, liberalism, in a philosophical sense, is not merely a political philosophy but a method for resolving conflicts between people in societies [10:44:00]. It is explicitly opposed to authoritarian movements of all types, whether left-wing, right-wing, secular, or theocratic [07:31:00].

Core Tenets

• Emphasis on Methods: Liberalism prioritizes the approach to epistemology (how we know) and ethics [08:23:00].
• Historical Roots: The philosophy underpinning the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, with its emphasis on individual rights and self-governance, is a prime example of this liberal approach [08:31:00].
• Conflict Resolution:
  • Economics: Recognizes property rights, allowing individuals to exchange property as they see fit, leading to free market capitalism [10:52:00].
  • Politics: Upholds democratic processes, where citizens elect leaders rather than relying on divine right or brute force, exemplified by the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of petition and peaceful assembly [11:16:00].
  • Ideas: For differing ideas, liberalism advocates for reasoned arguments and evidence to settle disputes, rather than succumbing to emotional demands or claims of offense [12:09:09].
• Self-Correction: Liberalism is uniquely capable of self-criticism and improvement, allowing it to adapt and address its imperfections over time [20:20:00]. This contrasts sharply with systems that resist internal critique or evidence.

Liberalism and “Social Justice”

The term “social justice” is often misunderstood. Historically, it simply meant a fairer, more just society, an ideal that has existed across many societies [09:14:00]. The current movement often uses “Social Justice” (capitalized) to denote a specific, radical method infused with critical theory and postmodern epistemology [10:16:00]. Liberalism, conversely, seeks social justice through universal principles and gradual improvement, rather than through radical overthrow [13:34:00].

Historical Progress Attributed to Liberalism

Liberalism, despite its imperfections, has been a “ratchet” for progress over centuries [15:01:00].

• Abolition of Slavery: While figures like Thomas Jefferson were slaveholders, the liberal ideals he articulated created a framework that led to the abolition of the slave trade (1808) and eventually slavery itself (1863) in the U.S., a painful but continuous progression [15:08:00]. Britain, operating under similar principles, abolished slavery earlier [19:40:00].
• Women’s Rights: John Stuart Mill’s mid-19th-century essay The Subjection of Women is cited as a prime example of a core liberal thinker applying liberal principles to argue for the liberation of women from patriarchy, demonstrating liberalism’s inherent drive towards equality [15:42:00].
• Equality for Minorities: Figures like Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. successfully appealed to the promises of the U.S. Constitution and its liberal ideals to advance civil rights and end segregation, leading to the Civil Rights Act [20:58:00].
• Universal Humanity: Liberalism established the concept of universal humanity and respect for autonomous individuals, viewing people as having their own minds and capacities for moral decisions [16:40:00]. This foundation has been critical in dismantling injustices like patriarchy, racism, and homophobia [17:19:00].

The progress achieved through liberalism is unmatched in human history, demonstrating its effectiveness as a system for reducing oppression and increasing flourishing [19:26:00].

Critiques of Liberalism from Postmodern Thought

The book Cynical Theories focuses on how postmodernism, particularly its “applied turn,” has infected radical leftist thought, making it difficult to argue against [02:37:00]. This is seen as a significant problem, especially as the left is perceived to have abandoned its liberal principles [02:40:00].

Postmodern Principles

Postmodern thought, originating in mid-20th century art and philosophy, began by challenging rigid structures and rules, asserting that rules are arbitrary and often contain seeds of structural oppression [02:24:00]. Its two core principles, identified in Cynical Theories, are:

1. Postmodern Knowledge Principle: All knowledge and claims to truth are socially constructed, generally in service of power, and there is no access to objective truth [04:11:14].
2. Postmodern Political Principle: Dominant groups construct knowledge to maintain their power, creating an ethical imperative to dismantle powerful discourses [04:19:00].

Four core themes of postmodern thought and application include:

• Blurring Boundaries: Attempting to dismantle categories (e.g., man/woman, knowledge/storytelling) to make everything fluid [04:11:00].
• Almighty Power of Language: The belief that words act as “magic spells” to structure society and its power dynamics [04:24:00].
• Cultural Relativism: Both moral and epistemological relativism, asserting that one culture’s ethics or knowledge system (e.g., science) cannot judge another (e.g., witchcraft) [04:35:00].
• Dissolution of Universal Humanity and Individual: People are seen as products of their social groups (identity categories), not autonomous individuals, undermining universal understanding and shared ethics [04:19:00].

The “Applied Turn”

In the 1980s and 1990s, radical activists adopted postmodern tools, leading to an “applied turn” where the complexity of postmodernism was simplified and weaponized [04:26:00]. They decided to make “oppression” immune to deconstruction, while applying postmodern tools to deconstruct anything seen as “power” or “privilege” [04:47:51].

Specific Manifestations of Postmodern Critique

• Strategic Essentialism: This concept involves adopting negative stereotypes about one’s group in a self-aware, ironic way to use them as a “weapon of resistance” against power [04:47:51]. However, it often leads to preserving existing hierarchies but simply reversing the power dynamics (e.g., “girl power” becoming female domination), rather than dissolving the hierarchy itself [04:57:00].

• Decolonizing Thought:

  • Rejection of Universal Reason and Science: They argue that the Enlightenment, reason, and scientific methods are “properties” of white Western men because they were developed in a European context by predominantly white men [05:22:52].
  • Colonialism of Knowledge: Teaching science or reason to non-Western cultures is seen as an act of colonial aggression that tries to erase their indigenous ways of knowing and being [05:39:58]. This view is considered mentally unsound, as it ignores the utility and benefits these tools provide globally [05:43:00].
  • Historical Blindness: Proponents of this view often ignore pre-modern forms of oppression, colonization, and empire-building, claiming that only “systemic power” in the modern era (post-Enlightenment) counts as true oppression [01:00:01].
  • Research Justice: This concept dictates that research should prioritize citing marginalized voices (e.g., black women scholars) over white Western men, regardless of the merit of the work, to correct historical biases [01:06:08]. This leads to intentionally “cooking the books” to advance certain activists’ reputations [01:14:00]. This approach threatens the fundamental principles of academic and scientific merit, especially in fields like mathematics where proofs and results are independent of the identity of the person who discovered them [01:09:33].
  • Ethnomathematics: Attempts are being made in mathematics education to instill “social justice” by making math “less individualistic and more collectivist,” even questioning objective truths like “2 + 2 = 4” based on linguistic puns or cultural interpretations [01:10:47].

• Queer Theory:

  • Rejection of Normativity: Queer theory radically rejects anything considered “normal” or “normative,” viewing it as constraining [01:19:24]. For example, it opposed gay marriage because making it legal made being gay “normative,” thus removing its “radical power” [01:19:32].
  • Deconstruction of Sex: Building on feminist deconstruction of gender roles, queer theorists like Judith Butler argue that biological sex itself is a social construct, rather than a fixed biological reality [01:21:01]. This is seen as a radical and increasingly absurd attempt to break down any normative categories [01:22:04].

• Critical Race Theory (CRT):

  • Re-essentializing Race: While liberalism sought to reduce the social significance of racial categories (colorblindness, as articulated by Martin Luther King Jr.), CRT actively seeks to re-insert social significance into race [01:29:42]. It promotes an “identity first” approach, arguing that “I am black” is more powerful than “I am a person who happens to be black” [01:29:53].
  • Opposition to “White Culture”: CRT defines “black culture” in opposition to “white culture,” which it claims is intrinsically anti-black [01:32:52]. Values like productivity, reliability, loyalty, and punctuality are labeled as “white supremacy” [01:33:09].
  • Psychological Harm: This rhetoric, asserting that the entire world is systematically against marginalized groups, is deemed psychologically devastating. It encourages catastrophizing, paranoia, and cynicism, directly opposing the positive self-empowerment that traditional advice (e.g., “work harder to beat whitey”) provides [01:36:27].
  • Sealed Worldview: The “Social Justice” worldview is hermetically sealed; it dismisses any criticism from outside its framework as coming from a place of “white Western hegemonic culture,” labeling it racist or sexist [01:03:31]. This prevents any genuine dialogue or fact-based critique.

Responding to the Illiberal Tide

To counter the illiberal tide of postmodern social justice, several actions are proposed:

• Listen Better: Acknowledge that the movement’s call for better listening is the one point of merit [01:41:27].
• Assert Liberalism: Actively teach and remind people about liberal civics and principles, which have been systematically neglected in education [01:41:51]. This includes understanding the value of the rule of law, due process, objective standards, and scientific processes [01:43:10].
• Show Up and Speak Up: Engage directly in local governance (e.g., school board meetings) and public discourse. A small number of activists can seize control if others remain silent [01:43:00].
• Get Informed: Understand the “jibber jabber” of the postmodern arguments to effectively counter them [01:43:00].
• Don’t Back Down: Recognize that the critics often resort to name-calling (e.g., “racist”) and word games (redefining terms like “colorblindness”) [01:46:06]. Do not be intimidated by these tactics; stand firm on principles of universal humanity and objective truth [01:44:58].
• Moral and Epistemological High Ground: Liberals possess the moral high ground due to their commitment to universal human rights and the epistemological high ground through their belief in science and objective reality [01:46:47]. This provides the confidence to stand up to the “painfully sincere” but misguided proponents of cynical theories [01:52:00].