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The subject of this essay is social and political liberty, and the nature of the limits that the State and society can be exercised above individuals. With regard to liberty, Dahrendorf carries out two essential operations. First of all, liberty is placed against equality. Then, within a unitary vision of this concept, he shows its fundamental elements, and distinguishes two totally interconnected aspects: the «problematic» concept of liberty and the «assertoric» concept of liberty. According to this hermeneutical hypothesis, i.e. assertoric liberty as a mode of human existence by specific realities behaviour, Dahrendorf defines a form of thinking that is totally separated from the historiography of political liberalism. Furthermore, the principle of social justice is always present in Dahrendorf 's political thought. In this sense, social inclusion is a moral duty, its rational justification is based on a criterion of justice. The process of inclusion of the greatest number of individuals in the sphere of the social contract means adherence to the norms of social coexistence and a condition for the survival of civil society.

From the beginning, Dahrendorf was committed to giving an anthropological foundation to his political philosophy through the definition of three fundamental aspects. Firstly, human societies are considered historically determined entities; secondly, the primacy of the principle of coercion; and finally, the problem of inequality. Dahrendorf's "new liberalism" must be interpreted essentially as a philosophy of transformation: it cannot be satisfied with the existing conditions, and therefore with the negative concept of freedom. Dahrendorf indeed became one of the interpreters of a radical criticism of conservative liberalism. The concept of active freedom is the solution to the most obvious deficit that this type of liberalism has shown. Furthermore, he is against systematic inequality and is therefore hostile to neoliberal policies. With their slogan "less State", such policies have impersonated a restrictive trend against the extension of social rights. Meanwhile, the implementation of neoliberal policies causes renewed social divisions, as well as the start of a radicalisation process of those divisions.