Ni verdaderos ni falsos: liberalismo de izquierda y liberalismo de derecha

Is liberalism a left-wing or right-wing ideology? In this article, we argue that there exists both a left-wing liberalism (LL) and a right-wing liberalism (RL). While both are rooted in the liberal tradition, we identify three criteria that distinguish LL from RL: their central normative aspiration, their justificatory methodology, and their stance on material inequality. Regarding the first criterion, we distinguish between a liberalism of tolerance and a liberalism of autonomy; in the second, between an evolutionary liberalism and a construc tivist liberalism; and in the third, between a liberalism of voluntariness and a liberalism of reciprocity. We conclude that the first term in each pair represents a right-wing ideological sensibility within liberal thought, as they legitimize differences in social experience—a centrifugal vocation—while the latter terms represent a left-wing ideological sensibility within the same tradition, as they promote the integration of social spaces—a centripetal vocation. Accordingly, it is reasonable that RL finds common ground with conservative thought, while LL aligns more closely with socialist thought. This conclusion invalidates the debate over “true” versus “false” liberalisms, as if liberalism were necessarily rightwing or left-wing, inviting us instead to consider the coexistence—and tension—between two ideological variants within the same liberal tradition.