LIBERALISM

HONORS 3V70-01, 4V99-01

Tuesday/Thursday
2:00 – 3:15
Morisson 205
Professor: David D. Corey
Office Hours: by appt.
Email: David_D_Corey@baylor.edu

Required Texts
1. Patrick Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed (Yale, 2018)
2. Helena Rosenblatt, The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-
First Century (Princeton, 2018)
3. Robert Louis Wilken, Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious
Freedom (Yale, 2019)
4. Asad Haider, Mistaken Identity: Race & Class in the Age of Trump (Verso, 2018)
5. Steven Grosby, Nationalism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2005)
6. Dieter Grimm, Sovereignty: The Origin and Future of a Political and Legal Concept
(Columbia, 2015)
7. Charles Howard McIlwain, Constitutionalism Ancient and Modern (Free online at
Liberty Fund, 2010)
8. Frederic Bastiat, Economic Sophisms and "What Is Seen and What Is Not Seen" (free
online at Liberty Fund, 2017)
9. Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and Government (Oxford, 1999)
10. John Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action (Prometheus, 1999)
11. John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, ch. 3: “Of Individuality as One of the Elements of Well
Being” (PDF from Professor Corey)
12. Julian Huxley, Transhumanism, in New Bottles for New Wine: Essays by Julian Huxley
(PDF from Professor Corey)
13. Sir Roger Scruton, Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition (All Points
Books 2018)

Recommended
1. Michael Strain and Stan Veuger, eds., Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing
(AEI, 2016)
2. Max More and Natasha Vita-More, eds., The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and
Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)
3. David D. Corey, “Against the Deformations of Liberalism,” Journal of American Affairs
4. George Will, The Conservative Sensibility (Hachette Books, 2019).

COURSE OVERVIEW
Liberalism can be viewed as a philosophical problem: “What is liberalism?” “What drives its
apparently endless change?” “What will (or should) be its future?” Our business this
semester is to grapple with liberalism in such terms, and we should do so with some

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urgency. Liberalism—whatever it is—seems to be in trouble, which is to say that our
political life is in trouble. As Americans we are more politically divided than in the past,
more financially strapped, and less sure about our proper role in the world. At the same
time, momentous political issues are tearing Americans apart: issues relating to
immigration, trade, human sexuality, religious freedom, national debt, and bioethics. The
conflict over such issues exposes serious tensions within liberalism, not a battle between
liberalism and something else. Are we, then, facing a “crisis” of liberalism, and could this
crisis be fatal? Surely such questions demand our attention.

This course is structured as an intellectual journey through time and, simultaneously, as a

survey of fundamental tensions within liberalism. After working towards a definition of
liberalism, we read about why it has (supposedly) “failed.” We then struggle to understand
how liberalism emerged historically from the Protestant Reformation and evolved over
time. By the end of the class, students will be capable of offering a critical analysis of
liberalism’s present state and future possibilities.

GOALS
I have three primary goals for students in this class. One is that you come to understand the
phenomenon of “liberalism” in its full complexity, especially by understanding its history.
Second is that you come to appreciate the way different freedoms naturally compete with
and even contradict each other, such that some versions of liberalism are more coherent
and sustainable than others. Finally, I expect you to give some thought, especially at the end
of the course, to different possible kinds of liberalism and to the question of which one(s)
might prove most conducive to human flourishing.

Besides these primary goals, I also (as always) have the secondary goal of helping you to
become a clearer thinker and writer. Your papers in this class will thus be evaluated in
terms of substance and style.

ATTENDANCE
As the fruits of this course come largely by way of classroom conversation, attendance is
required. Any student who misses more than 3 classes (excused or unexcused) will see his
or her grade substantially affected. Any student who misses more than seven classes will
automatically fail.

CLASS FORMAT AND GRADE STRUCTURE

The purpose of our class sessions is not to repeat what is in the readings, but to understand
the readings more deeply and to consider what they teach us about liberalism as a political
phenomenon. We do this through conversation, and our conversations will be fruitful if you
come to class prepared to offer insights and appreciate the insights of others. All this
presupposes careful reading and reflection at home before every class.

Participation: 10%, based on the contributions you make to classroom

conversations. “Contributions” refers not only to the frequency with which you
speak, but also the quality of your reflections. It will moreover be based on
attendance, insofar as repeated absences will subtract substantially from this grade.
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 Quizzes: 10%, typically 5 multiple choice questions, easy to answer if you read and
your brain was tracking the meaning of the words. Quizzes are meant to encourage
routine reading and to prepare you for your midterm and final exams.

Midterm: 20%, will cover factual material from the readings.

Papers: 40%, based on the cumulative value of the three equally-weighted essays.

Final Exam: 20%, will cover factual material from the readings.

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CLASS SCHEDULE (PROVISIONAL AND SUBJECT TO REVISION AS WE PROCEED)

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8/27 Opening Lecture: “Liberalism and the Modern Quest for Freedom”

I. On the Supposed Death of Liberalism

8/29 Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pp. 1-42 (no class)
9/3 Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pp. 43-90
9/5 Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pp. 91-130
9/10 Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pp. 131-153
9/12 Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, pp. 154-198 (no class)

II. On the Concepts “Liberal,” “Liberalism”

9/17 Rosenblatt, Lost History of Liberalism, pp. 1-40 (constitution day lecture 3pm-5pm)
9/18 Paper 1 due by 5pm

III. Did the Protestant Reformation Contribute to the Rise of Liberalism?

9/19 Wilken, Liberty in the Things of God, pp. 1-44
9/24 Wilken, Liberty in the Things of God, pp. 45-98 (no class)
9/26 Wilken, Liberty in the Things of God, pp. 99-133 (no class)
10/1 Wilken, Liberty in the Things of God, pp. 134-183

IV. Identity Politics: Marxist or Religious?

10/3 Haider, Mistaken Identity, pp. 1-64
10/8 Haider, Mistaken Identity, pp. 65-114: Guest Lecture on Identity Politics (Molly
McGrath, Assumption College)

V. Nationalism: Compatible with Liberalism?

10/10 Grosby, Nationalism, (entire)

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VI. Sovereignty: Its Creation and Mysterious Dissipation
10/15 Grimm, Sovereignty, pp. 1-32
10/17 Grimm, Sovereignty, pp. 33-76: Guest Lecture on Soverignty (Jeff Polet, Hope
College)

VII. Constitutionalism: Liberalism’s “Frenemy”

10/22 McIlwain, Constitutionalism, pp. 1-21 (No Class)
10/24 McIlwain, Constitutionalism, pp. 115-136

VIII. Economic Freedom: Drop Those Tariffs, Mr. Trump!

10/29 Frédéric Bastiat, “What is Seen and What is Unseen”
10/31 Recommended: Strain and Veuger, eds., Economic Freedom and Human Flourishing
(No Class due to a pagan holiday and Baylor’s inordinate love of sports)

IX. From the French Revolution to Republicanism and Democracy

11/5 Rosenblatt, Lost History of Liberalism, pp. 41-87 (Election Day)
11/7 Pettit, Republicanism, pp. 17-50
11/12 Pettit, Republicanism, pp. 80-109, and skim “summary” on p. 271ff.

X. Democracy and the “Social Question,” and Liberal Progressivism

11/14 Rosenblatt, Lost History of Liberalism, pp. 88-128
11/19 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, first half
11/21 Dewey, Liberalism and Social Action, second half
11/26 Rosenblatt, Lost History of Liberalism, pp. 220-244; Mill, ch. 3
11/27 Paper 3 due by 5pm
11/28 Thanksgiving Break (no class). Recommended: Julian Huxley, “Transhumanism”

XI. The Vital Role of Conservatism within Liberalism

11/3 Scruton, Conservatism, pp. 1-78
11/5 Scruton, Conservatism, pp. 79-156; recommended, George Will, The Conservative
Sensibility

Paper 1 (due 9/18)

Which of Patrick Deneen’s several criticisms of liberalism do you find most worrisome, and
why? 3-4 pages.

Paper 2 (10/2)
In what ways might the Protestant Reformation have contributed to the rise of liberalism?
3-4 pages

Paper 3 (11/27), Liberalism houses many kinds of freedom, but these freedoms exist in
tension. Which pair of liberal freedoms-in-tension seems to you to pose the gravest threat
to the future of liberalism? 3-4 pages