ABSTRACT
Foster, the novelist and atheist, spoke of the individual as a “divine achievement” on which he was prepared to place his faith, and which he would defend against any view which sought to belittle him (1972:66). On behalf of the individual, Forster also defended liberal democracy as a form of polity. for such representative government started with the assumption that the individual was important; it also gave onto the type of society which allowed individuals most liberty to express themselves-at least in terms of creativity and discovery, if not power-because it recognised that the aggregation of a myriad of different individual citizens is what makes for civilisation. Notwithstanding, Forster could only award democracy “two cheers” (one for its admitting of variety, and one for its permitting of criticism), and insisted on reserving the ultimate accolade of three for ‘the Beloved Republic of Love’: love between individuals was even better than the liberal tolerance of a democracy (1972:78).
