Liberalism and the Summum Boran

: a critical analysis : positing the compatibility of William Galston’s substantive liberalism and aristotelian moral theory

Abstract

This thesis explores the question of whether, in a liberal pluralistic democracy, the state or society at large can, or should, actively promote the development of virtue as a means for human excellence and therefore happiness. This complex question, lingering between the recovery of the role of virtue ethics in the liberal polity and the design of institutions—just but neutral—concerning moral virtues is pursued in this text following the footsteps of William Galston’s 1992 work, Liberal Purposes, in the broader context of his thought—spanning from his 1980 book on Justice and the Human Good to his more recent 2002 Liberal Pluralism. We defend the view that a liberal state may indeed make use of a notion of a highest good for human beings, a summum bonum, and promote it among the citizenry. Moreover, we believe that there is no fundamental incompatibility between liberalism and the promotion of a summum bonum. Aristotle’s notion of Eudaimonia, a flourishing human state translated as happiness, is the summum bonum we assume within this thesis. As the development of the Aristotelian moral virtues are the means to attaining Eudaimonia, and as we defend that there is no fundamental incompatibility between liberalism and a summum bonum, we defend that the liberal state may encourage the development of the moral virtues among its citizens, without coercion and respecting the broad diversity liberalism cherishes. Moreover, we defend not only the compatibility of a summum bonum and the liberal state, but also argue that employing a summum bonum in the form of a Eudaimonia achieved by the development of the virtues in fact reinforces liberal principles and allows for a more thriving liberal society.

Date of Award	5 Dec 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Hugo Chelo (Supervisor) & José Augusto (Co-Supervisor)