ANALYSIS, Olivier Meuwly | «It could be argued that the capacity of capitalist regimes to reform is partly due to Marx himself», asks Raymond Aron in his famous lecture on Marxism by Marx, delivered at the Sorbonne in the early 1960s, then at the Collège de France a decade later, and published in 2002 by Jean-Claude Casanova (Editions de Fallois). Is Aron indulging in his customary irony? Or are we to wonder whether, behind the provocative aphorism, lies not only the profound admiration that the great French liberal has always shown for the founding father of «scientific socialism», but also a warning to those who profess to analyze... or practice this same capitalism?
Each month, Le Regard Libre presents a philosopher whose thinking differs from, or even runs counter to, the clichés that circulate about him. Historian Olivier Meuwly opens the ball by arguing that Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel did not advocate an authoritarian state. On the contrary, our guest editor locates certain theoretical foundations of liberalism at the heart of the Hegelian system. Direct democracy itself is no stranger to the German's vision, according to the historian.
He has at least thirteen hats on his head, as many as the stars on his cantonal flag. At the very limited level of French-speaking Switzerland, he represents a (small) public voice. He proposes his way of seeing the world to anyone who will listen: through the Appel Citoyen movement he co-founded, the Foraus think tank he vice-chaired or the ethics laboratory he still co-directs. He also unpacks his values on 19h30 when he is invited to talk about fundamental freedom, on Le Temps when he conducts a questionnaire on sustainability, or on his blog when he analyzes current events while presenting the object of his research. And when you're a philosopher, «the object of your research» is vast. And diluted.
According to Pierre Bessard, there's no doubt about it: wealth-creating capitalist globalization reduces the negative effects of epidemics.
Future of the planet, Covid-19...
We're not talking about an economic system or a political philosophy here: we're talking about an attitude - the liberal attitude.
Liberalism and conservatism, two niches of the classical European right, are not the big losers of the federal elections. If you think about it, the ecological preoccupation now officially present among the population denotes a new form of conservatism and way of conceiving freedom, beyond the social and progressive dimension that characterizes this movement. A mutation of the great ideologies that brings great strengths, but also great risks. Analysis.
What would a Union of Destiny be? It would be a union defined by values, before being defined by economic principles and technical and legal standards.
The book «La suite des idées», published by Editions Favre last March, could be seen as a simple political dialogue between two leading liberal-radical personalities from the Valais, one a former President of the Confederation, the other a National Councillor. The book is much more than that: it offers genuine, practical reflections on liberalism. It gives a good idea of the burning questions that this family of thought cannot ignore, at a time when the individual, merit and responsibility are being called into question. Pascal Couchepin opens the doors of his office in Martigny, where he and Philippe Nantermod discussed a wide range of topics.
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