Co-sponsored by Liberty Fund, Inc., this is an intellectually demanding and stimulating weekend colloquium that explores the foundations of liberty in a mixture of graduate-level text-based, guided Socratic discussion and lecture sessions.
Covid-19 Conference Information
- The intent is to hold this program in-person with appropriate safety precautions according to the local and federal guidelines. All accepted attendees will be required to follow safe meeting guidelines provided by Acton Institute, which includes wearing a facemask to cover mouth and nose. Individuals not comfortable with meeting in-person, or not able to follow Acton Institute's safe meeting guidelines, should not apply to this program.
- Should local or federal regulations change, Acton Institute staff will communicate next steps in a timely fashion.
- Due to current travel restrictions, this program is open to individuals currently living in the USA.
This colloquium seeks to address the relationship among freedom, markets, and culture in both a narrow and broad sense. While markets undeniably lead to wealthier societies with superior opportunities for individuals to employ their talents and labor, questions remain for many regarding the proper cultural and moral underpinnings of markets. Moreover, criticisms are frequently leveled against markets that they undermine familial and cultural stability by promotion of a ubiquitous individualism unmoored from any tradition or larger social order. Therefore, one focus of the conference will be to evaluate these criticisms through consideration of the basis and operation of free markets, and the factors (moral, cultural, religious, or otherwise) that might be necessary to sustain them.