Philip Pettit

It is known for sure that Voltaire wrote two generous letters of introduction for Swift to carry with him on a planned visit to France.

300 years now after Swift, another fellow Irishman, similarly egalitarian in outlook, is Philip Pettit from the Western County of Galway, who is a professor at Princeton University.

It's professor of human values, indeed.

And in his masterful book on republicanism, real republicanism, I will say, he posited the so-called eyeball test.

Three decades ago, a battle of ideas began to revive the classical conception against the liberal one.

It was started by Philip Pettit, a political philosopher, Quentin Skinner, whom I just mentioned, an intellectual historian, and was later joined by others, also in this university.

My contribution to this battle is the argument that the classical conception is not just inherently superior, but also makes good economic sense.

So I'll first compare the two conceptions, and then outline my argument.

That, that is a w- in a way, that is also why I, I me- I, I use the image of the, the flag of liberty, you know.

And indeed, I talked about the meaning of a word.

What does liberty mean? Non-interference or non-domination? Um, so in a way, what I am doing, [chuckles] and what these great authors have done, Philip Pettit and Quentin Skinner, is proof of the importance of what you say.

They're trying to do a battle of, on, on, on the no- on, on the meaning of a word because that word matters.