Should Catholics Morally Cooperate with Liberalism?

Stephen M. Fields, SJ, examines whether Catholics can morally cooperate with contemporary liberalism despite its significant moral corrosion and shift toward relativism. Analyzing critiques from Patrick Deneen, David Schindler, and Michael Sandel alongside John Rawls’s theory of overlapping consensus, Fields proposes an Augustinian approach. He argues for continued cooperation based on the state’s role in maintaining order while advocating for a national program of natural law education to reinvigorate public discourse.