A Free Left Blog

There is a beauty to liberalism: a certain degree of modesty and respect for our limitations as human beings, especially our knowledge; a righteous scepticism towards the ability of bureaucracies and control freaks to prescribe what is right and good for the rest of us. In the real world of here and now however, liberalism has jumped over the fence of moderation and is pronouncing here there and everywhere what is best for everyone, actively prescribing huge changes in the social fabric of modern societies while also, notably, demanding strict social conformity. It is perhaps worth invoking John Stuart Mill’s famous ‘harm principle’ here: “ That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others .” This principle seems frightfully out of date now: as a platform for government, it is minimalist and clearly inadequate. But it also makes little sense when pressed up agains...

Karl Popper was first and foremost a philosopher of science, which makes his criticisms of pseudo-scientific theories of society especially powerful. In his book The Open Society and Its Enemies , Popper takes apart many social theories, including the 'prophecies' of Karl Marx. It is remarkable however how complimentary and sympathetic he is towards Marx. This following passage from The Open Society and Its Enemies sums up Popper's attitude towards Marx very nicely, and I thought it was worth posting up here. “[Marx underrated] the significance of his own moral ideas; for it cannot be doubted that the secret of his religious influence was in its moral appeal, that his criticism of capitalism was effective mainly as a moral criticism. Marx showed that a moral system can as such be unjust; that if the system is bad, then all the righteousness of the individuals who profit from it is a mere sham righteousness, is mere hypocrisy. For our responsibility extends to th...