Liberalism is a family of views rather than a monolithic doctrine.
We will focus on the broadly Rawlsian, egalitarian strand in liberal thought. There are various ways to develop and defend these themes, but we will begin with John Rawls' version in A Theory of Justice . Hence, we will explore the often-neglected later portions of his book that deal with specific institutions, the sense of justice, and issues in empirical and in moral psychology that are relevant to the nurturing and maintenance of liberal ideals in an actual society. Many people also feel that the degree of neutrality about values which liberalism requires in fact promotes a deterioration of society that, among other things, makes it impossible to foster the very values needed to sustain a liberal community. We will examine a range of criticisms of liberalism and ask whether it can be modified to overcome any genuine problems while retaining its essential spirit.