New Discourses Who Are We, and What Does That Mean About Politics?
Mar 2, 2026
A stroll through three competing ways people answer "Who are we?" and how those identities shape politics. Discussion contrasts tradition, discovery, and self-definition as political forces. Examines how each stance can turn healthy or become authoritarian. Ends with practical prompts for balancing tradition, experimentation, and evidence.
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Three Dispositions That Define Political Orientations
- People tend to lean toward one of three deep dispositions about the self: received (conservative), discovered (classical liberal), or self-defined (left/progressive).
- James A. Lindsay frames these as complementary societal roles that all have healthy expressions and are necessary in a free society.
Discovery Not Creation Explains Classical Liberal Identity
- The discovered self (classical liberal) sees identity as something to be learned by testing strengths and weaknesses in the world rather than created or simply received.
- Lindsay uses personal examples (trying yoga, discovering martial arts) to show how discovery shapes authentic identity.
Tradition As The Received Self
- The received self (conservative) understands identity as inherited from tradition, culture, religion, and family, carrying tacit wisdom across generations.
- Lindsay cites Burke and Chesterton's fence analogy to explain why tradition deserves epistemic weight.
