The neoliberal thought collective may deliberately split its doctrine into exoteric and esoteric versions

Evidence

Just to be clear about the nature of what will be asserted, I am not referring here to the Platonic doctrine of the “noble lie,” nor the Latin Averroist precepts concerning the tensions between philosophic reason and faith. Neither is it the “doublethink” of Orewellian provenance, which has more to do with the state twisting the meaning of words. It may have some relationship to the thought of Leo Strauss—the hermeneutic awareness that “all philosophers … must take into account the political situation of philosophy, that is, what can be said and what must be kept under wraps,” as the Cambridge Companion to Leo Strauss puts it—but exploring the possible Chicago connections between his writings and the neoliberals would be too much of a distraction, given all the other topics we must cover. What I shall refer to here is the proposition that an intellectual thought collective might actually concede that, as a corollary of its developed understanding of politics, it would be necessary to maintain an exoteric version of its doctrine for the masses—because that would be safer for the world and more beneficial for ordinary society—but simultaneously hold fast to an esoteric doctrine for a small closed elite, envisioned as the keepers of the flame of the collective’s wisdom. Furthermore, whereas both the exoteric and esoteric versions would deal with many similar themes and issues, the exoteric version might appear on its face to contradict the esoteric version in various particulars. It will be necessary to explore the possibility that these seeming contradictions are not cynical in the modality one often encounters in career politicians, but rather grow organically out of the structural positions that motivate the thought collective. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 188

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the esoteric/exoteric doctrine distinction Mirowski will deploy throughout the chapter.
• XREF: Connects to the thought collective framing introduced earlier in the book (Toulmin/Fleck lineage) and Strauss’s esoteric writing tradition. — connects to: Neoliberalism may not cohere as a unified doctrine in actual practice. — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 185; Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916; Neoliberalism operates through a double truth doctrine separating masses from elites. — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 2106 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Neoliberalism rests on a double truth separating elite doctrine from mass propaganda #corroborates (0.95) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2146
• Neoliberalism operates through a double truth doctrine separating masses from elites. #corroborates (0.90) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2106
• Neoliberalism’s cohesion comes from thought-collective structure, not explicit doctrine #qualifies (0.80) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 916
• Neoliberalism’s appeal lies in an esoteric knowledge reserved for the Elect #corroborates (0.80) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 2148