Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Griffin-Collart, E

Titel

Individualism and Liberalism: From Hobbes to Locke

Ist Teil von

• Annales de l'Institut de Philosophie, 1976-01, Vol.97 -- 127 (1976), p.97-127

Erscheinungsjahr

1976

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Presented is a summary analysis of the ambiguities of the concept of individualism: pejorative connotation both in nineteenth-century France & in Marxism, where it is linked with anarchistic liberalism & oppression of the weak -- a favorable connotation in the Anglo-Saxon world where it is associated with the ideals of equality of opportunity, with equal liberty, & with protection of individual rights. To show how Hobbes's individualism leads to a utilitarianism based on despotism is attempted, making some reservations as to the thesis developed by C. B. Macpherson in his The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism (Paris: Gallimard, 1971). The essential differences with Locke's thesis are then pointed out with reference to the abundant literature on the subject, notably Macpherson's book, J. Dunn's The Political Thought of John Locke (London: Cambridge U Press, 1969), & M. Seliger's The Liberal Politics of J. Locke (London: Cambridge U Press, 1968). The conclusion stresses the difference between Hobbes's solution of the individual equality in the state of nature & Locke's often incoherent attempts to save individual rights & establish the rights of government. The essential difference lies in the emphasis on Locke's doctrine of man's moral constitution as developed in R. Polin's La Politique morale de John Locke (Paris: P.U.F., 1960). The conclusion also mentions J. S. Mill's defense of liberty in Locke's tradition & the necessity to evolve a proper doctrine of individual liberty in this age of uniformization, bureaucracy, & subtle oppression. AA.