Originally published: Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962.
This seminal work by political philosopher C.B. Macpherson remains of key importance to the study of liberal-democratic theory. In it, Macpherson argues that the problem with the idea of individualism that underpins classical liberalism lies in its "possessive quality"--"its conception of the individual as essentially the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them." Under such a view, society is little more than a system of economic relations and political society but a means of safeguarding private property and the system of economic relations rooted in such property.
This seminal work by political philosopher C.B. Macpherson remains of key importance to the study of liberal-democratic theory. In it, Macpherson argues that the problem with the idea of individualism that underpins classical liberalism lies in its "possessive quality"--"its conception of the individual as essentially the proprietor of his own person or capacities, owing nothing to society for them." Under such a view, society is little more than a system of economic relations and political society but a means of safeguarding private property and the system of economic relations rooted in such property.