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.