Lillian Cicerchia (Freie Universität Berlin): ‘Value Pluralism Against Liberalism’

Abstract: This paper challenges the common-sense idea in political philosophy that liberalism is the only normative framework that can make room for value pluralism. It diagnoses this common-sense idea as a product of the Cold War, rather than of liberalism’s inherent virtues. The central claim is that value pluralism is desirable, but that liberalism does not deserve its status as its only protector. Liberalism is neither neutral about the good life, nor does it avoid selecting for some fundamental values over others. The best evidence for this claim can be seen in the conflict between capital and labor, which, if seen from a republican point of view, throws liberal claims to the contrary into relief against a competing concept of freedom. It then discusses the rise of “left republicanism” as an alternative normative framework, interrogating whether it can support value pluralism in liberalism’s stead. The paper concludes that either republicanism or liberalism can support pluralism, so there is no straightforward way for liberals to defend the status quo as the only viable alternative. Republican socialism can do just as well.

Lillian Cicerchia is a post-doc at the Institute of Philosophy at the Free University of Berlin. Her areas of specialization are political philosophy, feminist philosophy, and critical theory. Her research is about capitalism, structural injustice, and the intersection of the two, especially the ways in which capitalism influences experiences of social group oppression. Her work also asks how contexts of structural injustice frame the way that we think about our normative criteria for justice in terms of democratic rights and participation.

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