145 - Deirdre McCloskey: What Is Classical Liberalism?

Deirdre McCloskey is Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics and of History and Professor Emerita of English and of Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also Isaiah Berlin Chair in Liberal Thought at the Cato Institute. Over the span of her career, Deirdre has written on economic theory, history, rhetoric, feminism, ethics, law, and more. In this episode, she and Robinson discuss her political philosophy—classical liberalism. They begin by discussing her training before delving into liberalism’s roots in the eighteen and nineteenth centuries as a celebration of freedom of speech and innovation, as well as its doctrine of equality under the law. They then compare it to competing views, such as conservatism, and address common criticisms of classical liberalism, such as its alleged inability to respond to crises like global warming or that the free market will concentrate wealth in the hands of a few.

Why Liberalism Works: https://a.co/d/hvUAtnk

Deirdre’s Website: https://www.deirdremccloskey.com

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:59 Introduction

04:09 Deirdre’s Background in Economics

17:36 What is Classical Liberalism?

33:28 The Beginning of Liberalism

51:50 The Great Enrichment

01:05:43 Free Speech

01:17:31 Conservatism and Libertarianism

01:28:36 Criticisms of Liberalism

01:43:00 Climate Change and the Free Market

01:49:57 Liberalism and Queers

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.