ABSTRACT

One major difficulty any left-liberal or social liberal is faced with is the conflict between individual rights and freedom and the demands of social justice. If liberal individualism is understood, following Macpherson famous expression, as "possessive individualism", absolute property rights strongly oppose any form of redistribution. Social justice is not mentioned, as it would impose unacceptable demands on the individual search for happiness and fulfillment. This chapter concludes that the conception of the Self as a developing being and of this process as a social process defeats selfishness and opens the way for a different view of liberal individualism that is compatible with, and even needs social justice. The second conclusion is that social justice itself should be understood differently in view of this reinterpretation of the Self as a progressive and developing being.