Dame Notre Dame, Indiana Liberalism is often portrayed, and sometimes portrays itself, as a moral and political view that rejects the claims of tradition. Whether an arrangement is legitimate depends upon whether or not those who currently live under it can understand and accept its rationale. Jefferson gave this view its most extreme expression when he claimed that each generation has the right to begin its nation's political life anew, and that national constitutions should be rewritten every two decades.
Liberals often seem no kinder to intellectual than to political traditions.
As they think political life can periodically begin anew, so they sometimes seem to think that political and moral philosophy can begin anew. Hobbes famously castigated the obscurities of scholasticism and argued that political philosophy could achieve firm footing only if the rubble of the past were swept away. To take but one example of this neglect of the past, the ethical writings of scholasticism are dominated by richly detailed analyses of the virtues and vices, yet liberal writers roundly ignore these 1. Thanks to Alasdair MacIntyre, David O'Connor, Michael Pakaluk, David Solomon, Eleonore Stump, and Allen Wood for helpful comments on earlier drafts. This paper is dedicated to the memory of my teacher and friend, Prof. Judith Shklar.