Suchergebnisse

pt. I. The critique of progress and the speculative anthropology : Rousseau's first two discourses -- part II. The naturalizing of natural law -- part III. The general will and totalitarianism -- part IV. Anticipations of game theory -- part V. Strategies of redemption.

A distinction is made between two conceptions of the self -- the individualist & the constructivist -- & within each of these, between an analytical & a normative thesis. Analytical individualism, the ontology of the naked individual, is rejected, maintaining instead that persons form themselves within communities & subcommunities. Modern liberals accept the latter analytical thesis, but they are divided in their normative reactions to it. They wish to foster both the traditional liberal values of liberty & equality of citizens & the autonomy of the subcommunities that give citizens their identities, though these subcommunities may themselves be illiberal & inegalitarian. Hence, the dilemma of modern liberalism: normative individualism vs normative pluralism. Legal responses to the dilemma are exemplified in decisions by the US Supreme Court & in the problematic wording of the Indian Constitution. AA