

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Cynical Theories" by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Does it seem like society is falling apart? What’s the answer to the cultural decay all around us?
Social justice scholarship and activism changed from a force for good to a dangerous movement with totalitarian tendencies. That’s the view of Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay, who say that the tenets of liberalism—namely freedom of speech and belief in science—matter more today than they ever did.
Read more to learn about the importance of liberalism in society, especially now when so much is at risk.
The Importance of Liberalism
In their book Cynical Theories, Pluckrose and Lindsay outline historical shifts in social justice scholarship and how they led to the Social Justice Movement’s current beliefs. Then, they shift gears to discuss the importance of liberalism. They explain why liberalism is preferable for addressing social inequality. They argue that capitalism and democracy—the two cornerstones of liberalism—are self-correcting institutions because they welcome criticism through rational debate and give the people tools (political and economic participation) to address social problems. This process of consistent improvement is preferable to the Social Justice Movement, which the authors say aims to shut down rational debate in favor of their own fixed doctrines.
(Shortform note: While Pluckrose and Lindsay view capitalism and democracy as stable, self-improving institutions, some liberal scholars argue they’re relatively fragile and require consistent intervention to function correctly. For example, liberal economist John Maynard Keynes studied the boom-bust cycles of capitalism and concluded for the greatest overall human well-being, governments must supplement the free market with social programs. In addition, many liberal scholars in works like Why Nations Fail and Making Democracy Work argue democracy is very fragile and requires precise circumstances to remain successful.)
To demonstrate why this is the case, Pluckrose and Lindsay show how freedom of speech and belief in science make liberalism better for addressing inequality than the Social Justice Movement.
Freedom of Expression
The authors argue liberalism’s emphasis on free and open debate among rational individuals is an excellent way to address social inequality. Freedom of speech and expression allows ideas contrary to dominant narratives to circulate freely and gain traction based on merit and leads to societal shifts when enough people conclude the status quo is unjust. In addition, emphasis on free and open rational debate encourages people to empathize and cooperate to find common ground—including with disadvantaged groups—helping people address their biases and work together to fight social inequality.

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Here's what you'll find in our full Cynical Theories summary:
- How and why modern advocacy has gone too far
- How social justice scholarship and activism has become dangerous
- Why freedom of speech and belief in science are more important than ever