ABSTRACT
The liberal state can avoid addressing “society” by the formation of a set of “unique individuals,” like private business corporations which are in fact collective entities. This chapter examines the language statements with which each “individual” is constructed, and then to a consideration of each one, such as the modern business corporation and the family. The discreet entity of “the individual” and “property” is bounded by physical constraints and by legal limits delineated in language. The individual self is divided from others and “accountable” as a responsible individual, contrary to the “mob” of inebriated celebrants, armies of the unemployed or vengeful pogroms. The canonical view of the liberal state is the foundation on freedoms of the individual and property. Security comes from the collective, allowing for pooling of risks, but individuals must be disciplined. “Moral panics” can occur when the conflict is no longer contained but spills over across the jurisdictional boundaries of each “unique individual.”.
