The fraternal conceit: Individualist versus collectivist ideas of community

• Main Author: KUKATHAS, Chandran
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1991
• Subjects: Political Science
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3877; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/5135/viewcontent/op33.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

In the modern world countless minorities press separate claims for recognition by their fellow countrymen, by their states and, in some cases, by the world. Many of these groups, such as the Australian Aborigines and New Zealand Maoris, describe themselves as indigenous peoples, while others identify themselves simply as ethnic or cultural minorities with legitimate grievances. The various demands made by such groups leave us in no doubt that there is a political problem. But there is also an important philosophical question to be addressed: a question about the terms of civil association. The modern world has seen two great answers to the question of how civil association is to be conceived, although only rarely have they been offered in pure form. The answers go by the names 'liberalism' and 'socialism'.' The general thesis I wish to advance is that it is the liberal conception of human association that we should embrace.