Samenvatting

Patrick Deneen’s book Why Liberalism Failed states that liberalism is centered around individual autonomy, and norms, manners and morals were abolished in the name of liberation, leading to individualism and ultimately the demise of liberal democracy itself. In the search for a new moral framework, this paper evaluates the theories of natural law liberalism and common good constitutionalism as formulated by Christian Wolfe respectively Adrian Vermeule. By analysing the constitutional law of the United States, Ireland and the Netherlands, the question is answered to what extent these different moral frameworks can be weighed against individual autonomy.