EconlibThe LibraryOther Sites |
Front Page  Titles (by Subject) Self-Perfection - Literature of Liberty, January/March 1978, vol. 1, No. 1
Return to Title Page for Literature of Liberty, January/March 1978, vol. 1, No. 1The Online Library of LibertyA project of Liberty Fund, Inc.Search this Title:Also in the Library:
Self-Perfection - Leonard P. Liggio, Literature of Liberty, January/March 1978, vol. 1, No. 1 [1978]Edition used:Literature of Liberty: A Review of Contemporary Liberal Thought was published first by the Cato Institute (1978-1979) and later by the Institute for Humane Studies (1980-1982) under the editorial direction of Leonard P. Liggio.
Part of: Literature of Liberty: A Review of Contemporary Liberal Thought, 20 vols. 19781-982
About Liberty Fund:Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright information:This work is copyrighted by the Institute for Humane Studies, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, and is put online with their permission. Fair use statement:This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
Self-Perfection
“Some Reflections on Political Nature: Conservative Theory Revisited.” Journal of Philosophy (USA), 72 (1975): 593–604. 
Neither the utilitarian nor the contractarian branch of classical liberal moral philosophy can establish adequately traditional rights and liberties for Constitutional Democracy. What may be needed is a reinterpreted classical conservatism, rooted in Aristotle's political thought. This outlook may provide the philosophical foundations for a good state. The primary concept for the conservative is the good man, the fully realized or actualized man. The good society is the society that fosters growth toward that maturity. It provides whatever is needed to actualize man. It minimizes opportunities for incompatible courses of development. As for natural man, he is an interesting mass of potential, nothing more; his rights and desires he will acquire only later—from his society. If the society is good, the rights and desires he will acquire will be those encouraging growth to full humanity. The liberal's theory contracts man into a civil society, whose only claim on the individual's duty is its consistency in providing the appointed benefits. Conservative theory, on the contrary, defends the proposition that tribal association necessarily precedes political, both psychologically and logically. Tribal-peace theory of the origin and justification of the state posits a “state of nature” of independent agents, as does social-contract theory—but these agents are tribes, not individuals. The good state, developing from the tribe, characteristically cherishes political dialogue and its prerequisite: the protection of traditional individual rights. The classical conservative can thus give a coherent account of the good man and the good state or society, not as opposed, but as mutually reinforcing. |
