Abstract

This essay explores the relationship between moral community and the principles and practices of liberal individualism. Insofar as these principles afford the widest latitude to the individual's judgment concerning the government of his life, they have contributed to a decay in the rigor and authority of moral and civic codes. Moreover, they and the way of life they foster seem to militate against any political or social solutions to problems of morality and civility, reflecting a disparity between liberal regime principles and the moral preconditions of a decent society. A moral revival may thus have to be founded on the recognition that healthy liberal democracies require policies and practices in tension with liberal principles.