Alexandre Lefebvre’s new book Liberalism as a Way of Life is both a philosophical exploration of the origins and nature of contemporary liberal “values” and a self-proclaimed self-help book for liberals. The book even ends with liberal “spiritual exercises” (his phrase) designed to help his readers cultivate liberal habits. Why? According to Lefebvre, liberalism is under attack worldwide, and liberals should do a better job of promoting their “creed.” But Lefebvre doesn’t defend liberalism by the more academic approach of returning to the natural rights teaching of John Locke or the political theory of Montesquieu. He is aware of each and references them on occasion, but he thinks they are largely outdated. In Lefebvre’s view, the better way to defend liberalism is by studying the way it permeates our lives. 

At the heart of the book is a perplexing question: Where do liberals get their morals? Lefebvre argues that unlike a century ago, when the answer might have been more obvious—religion, institutions, political ideologies—today, in liberal democracies, the place of religion is diminishing. He notes the growing number of people who identify as having “no religion” and suggests that liberals often lack a clear source of their values. “In fact,” he writes, “people who tick the ‘no religion’ box on the census are the fastestgrowing population of religious affiliation.” At this point, Lefebvre gently whispers to his “dear reader” to “put the book down for a moment . . . and ask yourself, ‘Where do I get my values from?’ . . . I am willing to bet that you had no good answer.”