Persuasion
· collected 2026-09-03 · by Joey T. McFadden
commentary
We’re delighted to feature this article as part of our ongoing series on “Liberal Virtues and Values.”
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We → ’re → Virtues
The series, made possible with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation, will make the case that liberalism has its own distinctive set of virtues and values that are capable not only of responding to the dissatisfaction that drives authoritarianism, but also of restoring faith in liberalism as an ideology worth believing in—and defending—on its own terms.
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that → make → terms
If you haven’t already, please subscribe today to receive future instalments into your inbox!
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you → subscribe → inbox
On December 13, 1790, just one week after Philadelphia became the U.S. capital, President Washington wrote to several Hebrew congregations across the fledgling nation to respond to the congratulations they sent him for his inauguration as president.
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they → become → president
Washington opened the letter by invoking a word that today is almost lost to history.
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Washington → open → history
He praised the congregations for their “liberality of sentiment” concerning religious tolerance, arguing that “the affection of such people is a treasure beyond the reach of calculation.”
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affection → praise → calculation
To understand why Washington held this ideal in such high regard, we must return to the ancient Romans who inspired him, and follow the history of liberality from antiquity to the present.
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who → understand → present
In this ancient virtue lies the seeds of modern political liberalism—and quite possibly an antidote to the crisis of meaning that plagues liberalism today.
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that → lie → liberalism
In her 2018 book The Lost History of Liberalism, historian Helena Rosenblatt expounds on the history of the concept of liberalitas (“liberality” in English).
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Rosenblatt → expound → English
In ancient Rome, liberalitas was a political virtue characterized by financial and interpersonal generosity, fearless public speaking, and moral education.
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liberalitas → characterize → generosity
The Romans saw the reciprocal connections of liberalitas as a kind of social glue that held social and political life together.
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that → see → life
In De Officiis, Cicero—who had a profound influence on the American Founders—noted that if people “contribute to the general good by an interchange of acts of kindness,” those acts would “cement human society more closely together.”
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acts → have → society
Cicero’s liberalitas played out largely in the Roman aristocracy, and its system of reciprocity was said to hold the bonds of the res publica together.
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system → play → publica
Seneca in De Beneficiis, meanwhile, argued that the generosity that binds society cannot be truly liberal if the giver expects anything in return.
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giver → argue → return
More radically egalitarian than Cicero, Seneca believed benefits could be given across class lines, and that from the perspective of virtue and social bonding, a giver’s good intentions matter more than the gift.
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intentions → believe → gift
The ancient Romans were wise in their view that acts of benevolence and giving foster social cohesion.
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acts → foster → cohesion
In social scientist Robert Putnam’s books Bowling Alone and Making Democracy Work, he discusses the concept of “generalized reciprocity,” in which members of a community are confident their good deeds to others will be returned to them—not necessarily by the immediate recipient, but by someone else in the community down the line.
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deeds → bowl → line
Norms around reciprocity emerge when people frequently associate with each other in organizations such as clubs, sports leagues, choirs, and churches.
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people → emerge → clubs
According to Putnam’s research, societies with high rates of generalized reciprocity are less corrupt, have more functional governments, and are more civically engaged—something Cicero and Seneca both recognized.
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Cicero → accord → governments
The Roman view of liberalitas later evolved into a similar but Christianized concept in medieval Europe.
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view → evolve → Europe
Priests encouraged their flocks to be as liberal with their mercy as God and as liberal with their love as Jesus.
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Priests → encourage → Jesus
Through the tradition of the liberal arts, liberality became associated with a sense of open-mindedness and eventually tolerance of other religious beliefs.
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liberality → associate → beliefs
At the tail end of Europe’s brutal wars of religion, John Locke championed “charity, bounty, and liberality” as necessary partners to religious tolerance, invoking the Biblical obligation of human fellowship.
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Locke → champion → fellowship
Later on, the development of modern liberalism in revolutionary France transformed liberalitas from a private virtue into a political project.
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development → transform → project
The values of generosity and fair treatment became fundamental to the design of the liberal state and its guarantees of equal rights, free expression, and religious toleration.
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values → become → rights
Echoes of libertalitas continued to appear in the early political liberals’ obsession with the moral education of the people and their concern for “the social question,” targeting poverty and destitution with social and welfare programs.
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Echoes → continue → programs
But by the 20th century—and especially following World War II—liberalism had changed.
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liberalism → follow → II
It became less about “What do I owe others?” and more about “What am I owed?”
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I → become → others
The relational quality that is a vital part of a meaningful life almost disappeared from the liberal project.
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that → disappear → project
When Aristotle spoke of eleutheriotēs (liberality in Greek), he said that we should strive for a discerning form of generosity that favors giving and receiving in the right proportions.
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that → speak → proportions
Modern liberalism, many would argue, has failed to find the right balance.
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many → argue → balance
Fewer people today associate with each other in spaces that promote a sense of obligation among friends, such as sports clubs and churches.
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that → associate → clubs
Friendship in many ways has evolved from something reciprocal to something that is chosen and revocable.
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that → evolve → something
Contemporary men, in particular, have experienced a staggering decline in close friendships, and nearly 40% of Gen Z say they feel little to no purpose in their lives.
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they → experience → lives
Although liberalism is not responsible for this crisis, it has failed to provide an adequate response.
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it → fail → response
In fact, liberalism from the very beginning has been denounced for threatening the traditions and bonds that give life meaning.
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that → denounce → meaning
A panoply of popes impugned it for its supposed satanism and desire to destroy the church and family.
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panoply → impugn → church
In the 19th century, Nietzsche warned of the “last man” (letzter Mensch), a product of liberal democracy who seeks only pleasure and strives for nothing greater than comfort.
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who → warn → comfort
The 21st century’s post-liberals on the political right echo the same fears: that liberalism is destroying family, church, and community.
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liberalism → echo → family
The contemporary challenge for liberalism, then, is to answer its critics by reviving the spirit of liberalitas and bringing it back down to the level of individuals.
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challenge → answer → individuals
…and 20 more, not listed.
