Or, to say it another way, individuals no longer see how their personal good and the common good fit together. The New Dialogue takes as a basic assumption that the moral crisis seems to be related, in some way, to a decline of the classical Liberal tradition which over the past two hundred years has largely defined the relationship between individual and society. Although Liberalism is under attack from many quarters, the New Dialogue conversation will test the view that the Liberal tradition has stood the test of time and circumstance in providing a moral vision of society which holds a proper regard for both the requirements of the common good and the dignity and rights of the individual. Liberalism has stood opposed to concentrated political and economic power, reminding us of the tendency of such power to confuse accumulated power with the common good and, in the process, to abuse the individual human spirit. Getting at the causes of the moral crisis and proposing solutions will require a careful examination of the proposed connections between a moral society and classical Liberalism.
Liberal society has a high degree of moral content because of the emphasis on individual freedom.
Morality is the bond which best holds individuals together in society with the least coercion and the greatest degree of individual liberty. Due to the emphasis on equal freedom, Liberal societies encourage morality in a very particular way. Collective actions are moral to the degree that they encourage or influence individuals not only to act in a moral way but also to adopt the moral point of view in so acting, that is, to be disposed and have the primary intent to treat other individuals as having a human dignity equal to one's own. Such a criterion is a way to ensure that collective actions are evaluated by how they affect relationships between individuals as well as against how individuals are encouraged to treat other individuals. The source of the moral point of view which is so essential to the Liberal tradition assumes and implicitly relies upon the theocentric moral impulses of the individuals.