Skip to content

Kantian liberals thus avoid affirming a conception of the good by affirming instead the priority of the right, which depends in turn on a picture of the self given prior to its ends. But how plausible is this self-conception? Despite its powerful appeal, the image of the unencumbered self is flawed.

— Michael Sandel Democracy's Discontent (1996)

Another quote →

More quotes by Michael Sandel

Unlike the liberty of the early republic, the modern version permits — in fact even requires — concentrated power.

To put the point another way, the republican sees liberty as internally connected to self-government and the civic virtues that sustain it.

Democracy's Discontent (1996)

But if political philosophy is unrealizable in one sense, it is unavoidable in another.

Democracy's Discontent (1996)

Whether you're a libertarian liberal or a more egalitarian liberal, the idea is that justice means being non-judgmental with respect to the preferences people bring to public life.

Political philosophy seems often to reside at a distance from the world. Principles are one thing, politics another, and even our best efforts to live up to our ideals seldom fully succeed.

Democracy's Discontent (1996)

All Michael Sandel quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Michael Sandel (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.