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Single Idea 20486

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / B. Equalities / 1. Grounds of equality]

Full Idea

Liberty, equality and practical human sympathy are the only effective barriers we can oppose to the anti-social instincts of certain among us.

Gist of Idea

Only liberty, equality and sympathy can stand up to anti-social people

Source

Peter (Pyotr) Kropotkin (Law and Authority [1886], 1 'Anarchism'), quoted by Jonathan Wolff - An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev)

A Reaction

One might state it more succinctly as 'only the social can oppose the anti-social'. The dominance in society of essentially anti-social people seems to have become a major political fact in 2017, in the UK and the USA.

Book Reference

Wolff,Jonathan: 'An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Rev)' [OUP 2006], p.29