UB Philosophy, Politics and Economics program faculty awarded $2.5 million to study rights, equality and freedom

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The faculty of the University at Buffalo’s Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) program has received a $2.5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for an innovative project that will demonstrate how diversity, disagreement and dynamism are crucial resources for fueling an open society, not problems to be managed.

The multimethod project will combine lab experiments, computer simulations, game-theory modeling and surveys with hands-on community work to better understand how these key concepts shape outcomes in real institutions in Buffalo, the Rust Belt, and the country at large.

Over a three-year grant period, the study will develop a systematic understanding of this open, dynamic framework and reveal mechanisms that liberal institutions use to harness diversity in ways that provide both scholarly impact and insights for local policy improvements.

Ryan Muldoon, PhD, a UB professor of philosophy who directs the university’s PPE program, is the grant’s principal investigator. He says the importance of this work is difficult to overstate.

“Liberalism is under attack in academic circles and in our politics,” he says. “We aim to provide liberalism with a more secure foundation that reveals how diversity, disagreement and dynamism are responsible for its success.”

Liberalism is a political philosophy focused on individual rights, political equality, freedom and consent of the governed.

Many contemporary liberal theorists focus on the idea of liberalism as an equilibrium of institutions, beliefs and values. But liberal rights, like free speech and free assembly, upend beliefs, institutions, and associational arrangements because they present new ideas and discoveries. 

“That dynamism is the core of liberalism,” says Muldoon. “The reason why liberalism is better than its global competitors, such as authoritarianism or different forms of perfectionism, is because it harnesses disagreements and diversity and channels it into productive outcomes.”

Many political theorists discuss liberalism in terms of the tools to manage problems that arise from diversity, according to Muldoon.

“Approaching liberalism like that is backwards,” he says. “Liberalism is enabled by diversity, and inclusion is the aspect of liberalism that keeps us from spinning off into polarization. So, ensuring our institutions are inclusive let us realize these benefits together, rather than splitting off from each other.”

Muldoon says the project is made possible by UB’s world-class group of PPE-oriented researchers. The grant will also fund a graduate student, three postdoctoral researchers and a lab manager.

“This will supercharge our research capacities,” he says. “Not only that, but it will help us grow PPE as a field, and deepen our engagement with the community.”

The grant’s co-principal investigators include fellow UB faculty members Justin Bruner, PhD, associate professor of philosophy; David Emmanuel Gray, PhD, associate teaching professor of philosophy; Jacob Neiheisel, PhD, associate professor of political science; Alexandra Oprea, PhD, assistant professor of philosophy; Alexander Schaefer, PhD, assistant professor of philosophy; and Erik Kimbrough, PhD, Chapman University professor of political economy and philosophy.