In volume 52 (2025) of the academic journal Cuadernos Salmantinos, published by the Institute of History of the University of Salamanca, an article by Enrique Herreras and Carlota Gómez has been included.
In the article, entitled ‘The Tension between Liberalism and Socialism in Adela Cortina's Political Philosophy: Towards a Procedural Socialism’, the authors analyse Adela Cortina's philosophical position developed in Ethics without Morals (1991) and Applied Ethics and Radical Democracy (1993), which focuses on overcoming the historical tensions between liberalism and socialism in order to rethink the ethico-political foundations of contemporary democracy.
First, she examines the moral roots of these ideological traditions, in order to frame why Cortina criticises both the extreme collectivism of Marxist socialism and the inadequacies of modern variants of socialism. On this basis, the neo-Kantian project of communicative politics that the author defends is situated, with extensions to the paradigms of Habermas and Apel.
Secondly, the evolution of the relationship between liberalism and socialism is analysed, as well as the Cortinian reformulation of deliberative democracy as ‘communicative democracy’.
Finally, the paper discusses how the model of ‘procedural socialism’ as an overcoming proposal, in which Cortina integrates individual autonomy and solidarity to build a more inclusive and ethical democracy, shapes an ethical and political framework capable of responding to the demands of the twenty-first century.
