green numbers give full details | back to texts | unexpand this idea
| 22251 | Liberalism may fail because it neglects the shared nature of what we pursue and protect |
| Full Idea: I am interested in the claim that liberalism fails inasmuch as it neglects, and cannot accommodate, the fact that some or all of the goods we pursue, and which a system of rights is concerned to protect, are goods possessed in common. | |||
| From: John Haldane (The Individual, the State, and the Common Good [1996], III) | |||
| A reaction: It depends how individualistic we take liberalism to be. Extreme individualism (Nozick) strikes me as crazy. If 'we' erect a statue to some dubious politicians, it might be presented as a common good, but actually be despised by many. |