The pur pose of the New Dialogue is to come up with a sustained evaluative process which would measure the moral content and effects of collective societal activities, whether these be activities of government, business, education, culture, etc.

The Center for Ethics, Capital Markets, and Political Economy organized a number of gatherings over the past year on the general theme of "the shape of the moral and spiritual crisis facing our nation". The sessions involved a series of extended conversations among small groups of persons representing law, medicine, business and the academic disciplines of philosophy, theology and political economy. Each gathering explored in depth various aspects of the crisis.

The purpose of the meetings was to develop material that could be used to initiate what we have come to call the New Dialogue. The basic thought was that a thorough understanding of the "moral" crisis, and on closer examination that seems to be what it really is, would require a process of conversation and careful listening to a large and diverse group. The idea was to begin the conversation and then put it out over the Web and invite others to join in.

The hope was, and is, that from these conversations a consensus on a new moral evaluative process could be developed which could help stem the crisis.

Moral Crisis and the Decline of the Liberal Tradition

It is generally agreed that some sort of moral decline or crisis exists which is in some way connected to a breakdown in the relation between individual and society. One way of describing it is there has been a breakdown in the ability of individuals to see how much they depend on others. Or, to say it another way, individuals no longer see how their personal good and the common good fit together.

The New Dialogue takes as a basic assumption that the moral crisis seems to be related, in some way, to a decline of the classical Liberal tradition which over the past two hundred years has largely defined the relationship between individual and society.

Although Liberalism is under attack from many quarters, the New Dialogue conversation will test the view that the Liberal tradition has stood the test of time and circumstance in providing a moral vision of society which holds a proper regard for both the requirements of the common good and the dignity and rights of the individual. Liberalism has stood opposed to concentrated political and economic power, reminding us of the tendency of such power to confuse accumulated power with the common good and, in the process, to abuse the individual human spirit. Getting at the causes of the moral crisis and proposing solutions will require a careful examination of the proposed connections between a moral society and classical Liberalism.

• Liberal society has a high degree of moral content because of the emphasis on individual freedom. Morality is the bond which best holds individuals together in society with the least coercion and the greatest degree of individual liberty.

• Due to the emphasis on equal freedom, Liberal societies encourage morality in a very particular way. Collective actions are moral to the degree that they encourage or influence individuals not only to act in a moral way but also to adopt the moral point of view in so acting, that is, to be disposed and have the primary intent to treat other individuals as having a human dignity equal to one's own. Such a criterion is a way to ensure that collective actions are evaluated by how they affect relationships between individuals as well as against how individuals are encouraged to treat other individuals.

• The source of the moral point of view which is so essential to the Liberal tradition assumes and implicitly relies upon the theocentric moral impulses of the individuals.

The hope is that through extended conversations on such matters with a which a Web based dialogue makes possible, solutions to the moral and spiritual crisis may be uncovered.

Specific Objectives:

The objective is to come up with a sustained evaluative process which would measure the moral content and effects of collective societal activities, whether these be activities of government, business, education, culture, etc.

The New Dialogue conversation will seek to identify the fundamental principles which have sustained our society and hold promise for its renewal form both within and outside the Liberal tradition. The dialogue is to be practical in focus and solution oriented. However, the purpose of the New Dialogue is not to develop a set of policy recommendations on topical issues. It is not a political movement trying to resurrect or design new political formulations.

A final point is in order regarding the objective of establishing a sustained evaluative process. The dialogue would not serve its purpose if it developed evaluative criteria or frameworks accessible only to an academic group or think tank. A sustained moral evaluative process requires the involvement of a large number of individuals. Participants must seek, therefore, to establish and expand a dialogue/conversation which would involve as many of the individuals as possible who are concerned about the future of our society and have confidence that resources for renewal lie within our own tradition.

Attracting a large, committed constituency around abstract goals like moral and political renewal is not an unrealistic goal, or one without precedent in the development of the Liberal tradition. One need only think of 17th century England Leveller pamphleteers like Richard Overbrook or 18th century colonial pamphleteers like Thomas Paine to recall a time when principles of political philosophy became part of the "common sense" and arguments for political renewal based on abstract principles energized the general populace.

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