Liberal Emancipation as a System of Social Learning

In this chapter, we explore the ways in which liberalism works as a system of social learning through which emancipatory change is accommodated and accelerated. To do this, we present a “four corners of liberalism” framework consisting of economic liberalism, political liberalism, intellectual liberalism, and civil liberalism which is then applied to help us better understand the epistemic features of the emancipatory liberal order. The elements of the four-corners framework are not merely additive, but they work together to accommodate and support emancipatory change, while maintaining the integrity of the broader social system itself. We apply this framework to understand the properties of specific instances of emancipatory change, specifically the movement toward greater racial equality and rights for LGBT communities.

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