The Economics of Political Philosophy

This book redefines ideas of liberty and equality for the modern world. After exploring the origins of liberalism and the role of natural liberty as a principle of social organisation, liberty and equality are reconceived as complex and continuous notions that need support from social institutions to function. Such an approach allows an investigation of the connection between alternative conceptions of liberty and equality, diverging principles of social organization, and the assessment of the coherence and consistency of the entire programme. By rejecting the existing notions underpinning traditional liberalism, a new framework for socio-liberalism is presented where there is a clear distinction between the social and the private domains. The former is based on value-hierarchy and the latter is guided by alternative principles of economic organisation. The role of education, and the need for institutions to support individual development and sovereignty, are highlighted as a way of enabling this new structure of liberal society where inevitable inequalities are made explicit, contained, and used to serve the public interest.