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The clamor of philosophical discussion in the Union among some of the world’s leading social scholars came into focus as the conference which brought them to the University began.

“Liberalism Old and New” is a program being presented by the Social Philosophy and Policy Center, an organization that has been part of the University since 1981.

More than a dozen renowned professors will be on campus through Sunday to present their views on a range of topics centered around what liberalism means today compared to its founding ideals.

How liberalism has come to affect international justice, the marketplace, private property and democracy is among the specific issues the speakers will address at the conference.

Nicolas Maloberti, program director for the center, began planning the event more than a year ago.

“We ask the speakers to write papers specifically for this conference,” Maloberti said. “Because of this we give them plenty of time.”

While the diverse group of scholars were brought to the University from as far as Texas, Jeffery Paul, associate director of the center, said the difference between classic liberalism and modern liberalism is even more distant.

“Nineteenth century liberalism and 20th century liberalism are in many ways polar opposites,” Paul said. “Nineteenth century liberalism focused on upholding individual rights and property rights, while 20th century liberalism is characterized by a willingness to interfere with those rights to advance social ideas.”

Loren Lomasky, professor of political philosophy at the University of Virginia, the keynote speaker of the conference, addressed University students and his colleagues at 8 p.m.

Lomasky’s speech questioned applying modern liberal concepts to humanitarian intervention and globalization. He believes that only when a group of people are committed to sharing the same fate can goods be redistributed among them fairly.

“On the global scale, this situation does not exist,” Lomasky said.

Lomasky argued that the injustices present in poorer nations were largely due to domestic factors, and are not something which other countries can effectively combat. Because of this, humanitarian intervention is “disgracefully ineffective,” Lomasky said.

The conference resumes Friday at 8:30 a.m.

The collected papers written for the conference will be published in “Social Velocity,” a newsletter released by the center.