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Full Idea
Sandel says liberals are committed to the 'unencumbered self', ..when it has no roles, commitments or projects that are 'so essential that turning away from them would call into question the person I am'.
Gist of Idea
The self is 'unencumbered' if it can abandon its roles and commitments without losing identity
Source
report of Michael J. Sandel (Liberalism and the Limits of Justice [1982], p.86) by Andrew Shorten - Contemporary Political Theory 02
Book Ref
Shorten,Andrew: 'Contemporary Political Theory' [Palgrave 2016], p.25
A Reaction
This is a very penetrating criticism of liberalism. The liberal self that makes social and legal contracts and exercises basic political rights is not far from being a robot. It has the minimum needed to join a society. Belonging is quite different.