Freedom and Culture in Western Society

Roads to Freedomargues that in present day Western liberal democracies there is great social inequality in the ability to acquire and exercise freedom and that the opportunities offered by these political systems for developing this value are insufficiently exploited. Hans T. Blokland shows that is possible to have a reasonable discussion and even to reach a plausible consensus on the meaning of essentially contested concepts like freedom and autonomy. Blokland inquires about the significance and value which freedom could have in our society. He also investigates how political communities could enlarge the capacity of their citizens to be master of their own lives, without unacceptable interference in their private realm.