Introduction

Discussion of political doctrines such as Liberalism, Conservatism and Socialism is an exceedingly hazardous enterprise. Socialist writers too have sometimes defined socialism in terms of equality, justice, decentralisation of power and protection of minorities, thus depriving rival political doctrines of almost all humanistic content. Socialism began as a revolt against capitalism, and its conception of man and society was initially developed as an alternative to the one which in the socialist view underlay and reinforced capitalist society. The socialist vision of man appeared on the European scene in the nineteenth century, spread all over the globe with the spread of European ideas and institutions, and has continued to dominate human consciousness ever since. First, although the socialist vision is prima facie plausible and attractive, like all political doctrines it needs philosophical justification and this has had to be reconsidered. Secondly, the socialist vision of man has been refined and made clearer and extended into new areas.