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Document Details : Title: How a Misunderstood Conception of Equality Exacerbates the Negative Conception of Liberty and Vice Versa Author(s): LEVRAU, François Journal: Ethical Perspectives Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Date: 2023 Pages: 333-349 DOI: 10.2143/EP.30.4.3293301 Abstract : This article deals with the question of why ‘negative liberty’ has become so dominant in contemporary western societies. The thesis is that its popularity is related to a misunderstood conception of equality. In order to back-up this statement, two related twin-concepts of ‘respect’ and ‘esteem’ are examined. While ‘respect’ can be enforced, as all people should be protected by the same liberty rights and all citizens should have the same power over and under the same laws, ‘esteem’ is a form of recognition that cannot simply be claimed. Not all people can be esteemed in the same way and a lack thereof should therefore be accepted. A society needs to check whether an inequality of esteem leads to an inequality of respect, but it also needs to account for the possibility that inequality of esteem is being made difficult because of a confusion with the need for equal respect. After all, if people believe that equal respect also entails equality in terms of esteem, and hence that all people are the same, in all aspects, the upshot is a ‘horizontalisation’ of social relations where people do not accept being confronted with restrictions that flow from rules, laws, norms, and social hierarchies. These restrictions cause unease and, subsequently, these unpleasant feelings are interpreted as violations of rights which are often framed as illegitimate infringements of one’s liberty. Relying upon the work of José Ortega y Gasset, it is argued that the origins of this dynamic can be found in the nineteenth century. |
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