Liberalism

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani approaches liberalism through the phrase "libertarian liberalism" (libéralisme libertaire), coined by Michel Clouscard. The phrase joins what was thought to be opposed: Pompidou's employers and Cohn-Bendit on the barricades1. Drawing on Rousseau, he distinguishes doing what one wills from doing what pleases one. He contrasts autonomy, that is, obedience to a law one has prescribed for oneself, with a liberal-libertarian hedonism that stays at the pleasure principle. In his view, this hedonism is reserved for the privileged, who, because they are served, can disregard the reality principle1. Against the model of a society "first liberal, then solidary" put forward by a guest philosopher, he argues that freedom is not given from the outset but produced by history. He bases this on paragraph 185 of Hegel's Elements of the Philosophy of Right and adds that extreme inequalities make this freedom derisory2. Finally, he notes that the discourse against the State is shared by anarchists and by the MEDEF, the French employers' federation. With Clouscard, he distinguishes the State from the State apparatus, which grows while the State retreats in favour of the private: the private deprives, whereas the public domain extends freedom3.

1. 1L comme Liberté26 Dec 2014
2. 2Hegel et les gilets jaunes (1ère partie)13 Feb 2019
3. 3La PHILO avec PAGANI : A comme ANTIGONE20 Mar 2023

Introduction produced automatically from the 4 sessions on this theme, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the sessions.