Your complimentary articles

You’ve read all of your complimentary articles for this month. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy articles on this site, please

If you are a subscriber please sign in to your account.

To buy or renew a subscription please visit the Shop.

If you are a print subscriber you can contact us to create an online account.

Liberty & Equality

The Paradox of Liberalism

Francisco Mejia Uribe explains why the rise of fundamentalism poses a problem for liberals, and suggests what they can do about it.

Fundamentalism is creating a paradoxical situation for us Westerners. Pluralism and moral autonomy, the very concepts that once helped us overcome the bitter fundamentalism of the wars of religion, now seem to prevent us from counteracting the current rise of fundamentalism. In other words, while we feel the need to defend our moral convictions in the new global battle for beliefs, the core liberal assumption that moral conflict is irresolvable (pluralism) together with the belief that individuals should be free to choose and act on their own values (moral autonomy) seem to prevent us from engaging in direct moral conflict. This paradox is something we need to acknowledge and resolve before we can mount a convincing case against fundamentalism. Allow me to elaborate.

…