Classical Liberalism: A Treasury Worth Defending

The treasury of classical liberalism is replete with the finest silver. Yet, within the vast history of human civilizations, its treasures are newly purchased. The taproot of classical liberalism is the dignity of persons and the fear of tyrannical rule—impulses awakened especially by Judeo-Christian values. Further, the architects of classical liberalism such as John Locke maintained that the “state of nature”—the condition of ideal freedom against which all governments should be judged—is one of equal natural rights, including those of private property and free enterprise, combined with acceptance of traditional moral values justified by a natural moral law understood as those rules established by our rational creator. The religious convictions that undergird in substantial measure the rise of classical liberalism should, I believe, permit us to appreciate its treasures all the more—and to redouble our efforts to protect them. 

Dr. Joseph Prud’homme is the Burton Family Chair in Religion, Politics, and Culture and Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliated Faculty member in Religious Studies at Washington College. Dr. Prud’homme is the founding Director of the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Culture at Washington College. 

Dr. Prud’homme works in the areas of political philosophy, legal theory, intellectual history and religious studies. He has published numerous works in these fields, including the books Religion and Politics in America from the Colonial Period to the Civil War; Curriculum and the Culture Wars: Debating the Bible’s Place in Public Schools (with Melissa Deckman of Washington College); State Religious Education and the State of Religious Life (with Liam Gearon of the University of Oxford); the chapter on Religion and Education for the Palgrave Handbook on Religion and the State; and numerous peer-reviewed articles.

He directs a partnership between Washington College’s Institute for Religion, Politics, and the University of Oxford and regularly takes students to Prague and Vienna and on study tours of the monstrous death camps in Auschwitz. He is a frequent guest lecturer nationally and internationally.

This talk is a part of our Founding Freedoms Lecture Series, that seeks to help Capitol Hill Staff think more deeply about the freedoms bequeathed to this nation – and the religious tenets that undergird them.