The problem of the self-constituted individual in modern liberalism

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2004
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Haverford College. Department of Philosophy
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Thesis
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
The modern conception of what it means to be a self in a liberal society is fraught with problems. It was Plato who wrote that the unexamined life is not worth living and that one should know oneself above all. But what is this self that we are to know? Modern liberalism recognizes people's rights on the basis of an understanding of the self. This recognition attempts to resonate with the truth of what it means to be a human being. A clear basis for this truth is necessary for these liberal politics to work. The politics of liberalism connects the meaning of the self with the meaning of human being. If we do not have a clear understanding of what it means to be a self, then there is no way to understand how fundamental human rights can be recognized. Thus, it would serve us well to take a closer look at the constitution of the self out of which modern liberalism is operating.
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