The Concept of Metaphysical Liberalism: On the Philosophical Source o

The Concept of 'Metaphysical Liberalism': On the Philosophical Source of 'Liberal Democracy' ABSTRACT: There have been many discussions about ‘Liberalism’ in modern political philosophy. In this paper, I want to discuss the liberal principles of political philosophy on the metaphysical level. This includes the liberal mind, the liberal consciousness, and the liberal ethos, all of which are presupposed in our liberal behaviors, and in turn serve as fundamental principles in any multicultural society. I want to emphasize the liberal tendencies of self-criticism and of the critical way of thinking in European traditional metaphysics, such as Plato’s dialectics or Kant’s philosophy of criticism. The latter is also the logic of dialogue which produces an endless questioning of possible universal truths. I group these characteristics under the label ‘Metaphysical Liberalism’ and assess them from three standpoints: (1) critical agnosticism; (2) methodological falsificationism; and (3) pluralistic universalism. These three points enable us to remain self-conscious of the limitation of any kind of special theory or thought in order to prevent the emergence of any dogmatic belief-system. Such liberal attitudes that allow the realization of individual ideas and thoughts without any political coercion in turn sustain a democratic federalism that creates space for the expression of public opinion even while protecting such space. Such a situation, however, is possible only by educating ourselves in this metaphysical method. I. Liberalism, as Principle of ‘open society’ Nowadays, we are forced to live inworld where there are no barriers, in which the global exchange of information and communications between people have already becom... ... interfering, systematically speaking, it is valid to establish an impartial observance group in every organization, and to hold a deliberative organ there, in which all members can participate directly and make divided open discussions to solve inner problems caused in each section. But taking root in the tolerant and self-critical attitude of liberalism, is not solely possible by systematic improvement. I say again, this is only possible by the Kant’s words: ‘Revolution of thinking’, on the level of an individual’s consciousness, which means ‘Paideia’of philosophy, namely the education of liberal way of thinking in metaphysics. This philosophical education is not an ideal, but the indispensable task we are confronting with today. So I would like to emphasize that the completion of this task will make one of the universal frameworks to realize an impartial society.