“Liberalism must rhyme with humanism”, assures Gaspard Koenig

He is a figure of liberalism in France. Philosopher, essayist and president of the think-tank Génération libre, Gaspard Koenig seeks to renew the liberal tradition, a current of thought sometimes frowned upon and which has even, for some, become a dirty word. However, the candidate for the presidential election wants to be the heir to this liberal tradition. Guest of Europe Matin on Monday, he assured that “liberalism must rhyme with humanism”.

Good press for liberalism?

The philosopher affirmed it on Europe 1, the polls and the opinion studies show that the word liberalism has rather good press. The author of Our wandering freedom: Riding in the footsteps of Montaigne therefore defends a humanist liberalism. “Me, my liberalism, is quite different. It is based on the individual, on the ability to experiment, on the ability to control one’s destiny,” he explained.

Contrary to a liberalism that he condemns, that of the executive. “People are rejecting this neo-liberalism that the current government is carrying in all its glory… It is the reign of technocracy, the idea that we are going to put in place superstructures and that we are going to make decisions instead of people, in the name of their own well-being,” he said.

For the philosopher, liberalism has put itself in a mousetrap by identifying itself with neo-liberalism. “I think it’s the most widespread feeling in France today, that you no longer control your life. We are always governed by a rule, an algorithm. We need to find ourselves” , he concluded.