Soc (2009) 46:137–146 DOI 10.1007/s12115-008-9180-7 SYMPOSIUM: PART II: WHO ARE THE PUBLIC INTELLECTUALS? Resorting to Statism to Find Meaning Daniel B. Klein Published online: 14 February 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract The paper develops the idea of configuration of Man is a meaning seeking animal. Meaning is developed ownership to distinguish three primary political ideologies: and sustained in beliefs, communities, customs, and (classical) liberalism, conservatism, and leftism. The liberal institutions. It is represented by symbols and identifiers. configuration is atomistic in its recognition of owners and These components work together as a subculture. The ownership claims; it conforms closely to Adam Smith’s meaningfulness of a subculture is enhanced by belonging to “commutative justice,” which Smith represented as a sort of things that are great and permanent. Thus many look to social grammar. The conservative configuration also strives politics and government. Such subcultures are often called for a social grammar, but it counts among the set of owners ideologies. certain spirit-lords such as God and Patria. The liberal and I am a pragmatic libertarian or classical liberal. I would conservative configurations become isomorphic if and only love to live in a culture in which the identity of mere if the ownership claims of the conservative spirit-lords are “liberal” worked for me, but in the Anglosphere that culture reduced to nothing. The left configuration ascribes funda- broke down about a hundred years ago. I spend a lot of time mental ownership of resources to the people, the state, and in Sweden, and enjoy being able to use just “liberal” and sees laws as organizational house-rules into which one “liberalism,” terms regarded with proper opprobrium by enters voluntary by choosing to remain within the polity; both Swedish social democrats and social conservatives. the type of justice that pertains is parallel to Smith’s Here I will insinuate that culture by calling it just “distributive justice,” which Smith associated with aspira- “liberalism.” So “liberalism” here does not mean John tional rules for achieving beauty in composition. The Dewey, J.K. Galbraith, John Rawls, George Lakoff, and scheme illuminates why the left’s conception of liberty Paul Krugman. Rather, liberalism means Adam Smith, John consists in civil liberties. The formulation of configurations Stuart Mill, Herbert Spencer, William Graham Sumner, is used to interpret the semantics of the three primary Friedrich Hayek, and Milton Friedman. ideologies. Meanwhile, it is noted that actually existing My ambition is to provide a fundamental formulation of parties and movements are admixtures of the three primary the political landscape. The political landscape blooms with ideologies. For example, what makes Republicanism flowers and timber of every color, but I suggest three “conservative” is that it is relatively conservative; it by no primary colors: means thoroughly or consistently rejects the precept of & leftism collective ownership by the polity. & conservatism & liberalism Keywords Statism . Liberalism . Conservatism . Leftism . Configuration of ownership Leftism necessarily and conservatism typically resort to statism in the search for meaning. Liberalism is the ideology of depoliticization; it is an attitude and reform * D. B. Klein ( ) agenda that opposes the resort to statism in the search for Department of Economics, MSN 3G4, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA meaning. It demands that people find meaning elsewhere, e-mail: [email protected] or, if they have to, settle for less meaning. 138 Soc (2009) 46:137–146 The three primary colors find their differences in the sublime and elegant in composition. The one, are configuration of ownership. The three ideologies work precise, accurate, and indispensable. The other, are from three different configurations of ultimate ownership. loose, vague, and indeterminate, and present us rather The configuration issue relates closely to Adam Smith’s with a general idea of the perfection we ought to aim distinction between grammar-like rules and aesthetic rules at, than afford us any certain and infallible directions for achieving beauty. Leftism is oriented toward the pursuit for acquiring it. A man may learn to write grammat- of beauty, or what Lon Fuller called the morality of ically by rule, with the most absolute infallibility; and aspiration. Leftism is inherently statist. Conservatism is so, perhaps, he may be taught to act justly. But there oriented toward a social grammar, or what Lon Fuller called are no rules whose observance will infallibly lead us to the morality of duty. Liberalism shares with conservatism a the attainment of elegance or sublimity in writing; grammatical orientation—both “right” ideologies are social- though there are some which may help us, in some grammar philosophies. But liberalism and conservatism measure, to correct and ascertain the vague ideas differ in the configuration of ownership. Liberalism is a which we might otherwise have entertained of those social grammar that militates against statism. Whether perfections. And there are no rules by the knowledge conservatism is statist depends on the ownership claims of which we can infallibly be taught to act upon all attributed to its spirit-lords, such as God and country. Mild occasions with prudence, with just magnanimity, or claims for the spirit-lords allow conservatism to eschew proper beneficence: though there are some which may statism and merge with liberalism. enable us to correct and ascertain, in several respects, Please avoid the precept that some kind of supreme right the imperfect ideas which we might otherwise have or ethical trump is thought to inhere in “liberty,”“owner- entertained of those virtues. (TMS, 175–176) ship,” or “commutative justice.” Adam Smith wrote that Later, Smith reiterates the analogy to writing: “It was prohibiting banks from issuing small-denomination notes observed…that the rules of justice are the only rules of was “a manifest violation of…natural liberty,” and yet morality which are precise and accurate; that those of all the favored it (WN, 324). Elsewhere he allowed a “superior” to other virtues are loose, vague, and indeterminate; that the transgress the rules of commutative justice (TMS, 81). The first may be compared to the rules of grammar; the others to struggles and admixtures of the three primary ideologies those which critics lay down for the attainment of what is certainly concern policy positions, but those differences are sublime and elegant in composition…” (TMS, 327). not our focus here. Rather, the focus is their semantics and Smith says commutative justice is like grammar. He sees conceptual formulations. One could uphold left semantics distributive justice as analogous to rules which critics lay and liberal positions: “the minimum wage does not reduce down for the attainment of what is sublime and elegant in liberty and is bad.” Likewise, one could uphold liberal composition. As such, Smith’s analogy may be represented semantics and left positions: “the minimum wage reduces in Table 1. liberty and is good.” Neither of these combinations would Substantively, commutative justice is claims of owner- be illogical, merely peculiar. ship, including self-ownership, and voluntary agreements: I favor liberal views and the eschewal of seeking “The most sacred laws of justice, therefore, those whose meaning in statism. But those views are not argued here. violation seems to call loudest for vengeance and punish- Nothing I say here is intended as criticism of conservatism ment, are the laws which guard the life and person of our or leftism. neighbor; the next are those which guard his property and possessions; and last of all come those which guard what are called his personal rights, or what is due to him from the Adam Smith: Two Types of Rules, Two Types of Justice When Smith addressed commutative justice, he called it Table 1 How the two justices parallel rules for writing justice, simpliciter. When he addressed distributive justice he generally used beneficence, benevolence, charity, friend- Nature of the rules ship, and generosity. “Precise, accurate, “Loose, vague, and indeterminate” To illuminate the difference between commutative and indispensable” justice and other virtues, Smith drew an artful analogy to two different kinds of rules for writing: Ethics Commutative Distributive justice justice “ The rules of justice may be compared to the rules of Writing Grammar rules which critics lay down for grammar; the rules of the other virtues, to the rules the attainment of what is sublime and elegant in composition” which critics lay down for the attainment of what is Soc (2009) 46:137–146 139 promises of others” (TMS, 84). This formulation echoes our own.” I propose that again we think in terms of Hume’s(1751, 26; 1740, 526). It holds up well throughout ownership, this time ownership of exhaustible resources. Smith’s work, and it constitutes “natural liberty.” Elsewhere The resources include not only our tangible stuff, our Smith also suggests that reputation, too, is protected by person, and the contracted rights, but also our human commutative justice (TMS, 82, 269; LJ, 8, 105, 121, 125, capital, including our attention and energy. Distributive 399, 480). He says commutative justice “consists in justice consists in our properly distributing our exhaustible abstaining from what is another’s” (TMS 269). resources. Smith explained that “Mere justice is, upon most occasions, but a negative virtue”: “The man who barely abstains from violating either the person, or the estate, or The Configuration of Ownership the reputation of his neighbors, has surely very little positive merit. He fulfils, however, all the rules of what is I submit that at the heart of social justice is a particular peculiarly called justice, and does every thing which his view of the configuration of ownership. The configuration equals can with propriety force him to do, or which they presupposed by social-justice leftists and social democrats can punish him for not doing.