Alexandre Lefebvre, "Liberalism as a Way of Life" (Princeton UP, 2024)
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Hello and thanks for joining us for New Books in Philosophy, which is part of the New Books Network. I'm Robert Talise, I'm professor of philosophy at Vanderbilt University. I co-host the program with Carrie Figger, Malcolm Keating, and Sarah Tyson. My guest today is Alex Lefebvre. Alex is professor of politics and philosophy at the University of Sydney. He specializes in political theory with emphasis on liberalism and human rights. His latest book has just been published with Princeton University Press, and it is titled Liberalism as a Way of Life. Now, the word liberalism is fraught. Listeners in the US will associate the term with leftist politics, or at least with the politics of the US Democratic Party.
Liberalism in this sense is contrasted with conservatism. Yet in other countries the word liberalism refers to a middle of the road political agenda. Майби інше реже прогреслен полісис. To make matters worse, in political philosophy, liberalism means something else again. It's not the name of a particular social platform or a party agenda. І црада the framework that gets invoked when we're thinking about politics. Liberalism in this philosophical sense, it's the way of thinking according to which the state and its laws and its institutions all stand in need of justification, and that the justification of the state must be addressed to those who live within its territory and are under its purported authority.
In this way, liberalism is a philosophical stance that affirms the Moral equality of persons in some apolitical or non-political sense. And then prioritizes the liberty of each one. taken one by one, as it were. Now, the idea of liberalism as a way of life thus might seem curious. According to most traditional liberal thinkers, liberalism is distinguished from other approaches to politics specifically by the denial that it's a way of life. On these views, a liberal political order establishes the conditions under which each individual can seek their own good in their own way, as John Stuart Mill put it. So as usual, there's a lot to talk about when we're thinking about liberalism as a way of life. Luckily, we're talking to our author today.
And as we usually do, we'll begin by asking him to say something about himself. Hello Alex, how are you? Hi Bob. Thanks for inviting me. No problem at all. So um why don't we s start off as we normally do? Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Sure, my pleasure. So you started off with the observation that liberalism means something different in all kinds of different countries. And that's been my experience too. So I live in Australia, but from my accent, you can probably tell I'm not from around here.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–10:32
2
What is liberalism as a philosophical framework and how does it differ from political parties?
10:32–23:21
3
How does Alexandre Lefebvre’s personal background shape his view of liberalism across different countries?
23:21–39:16
4
What problem does the book aim to solve and why does it matter for today’s secular age?
39:16–1:06:32
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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