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both in the solution of the practical problems of modern society and
in devising moral guidance for its members. Moreover, for many
intellectuals , and certainly those on the left, the dedication to equal–
ity has long moved beyond a support for equal opportunity-they
have been drawn toward equality of result , a vision of universal en–
titlement. Such a commitment , as this collection also shows, in turn
directs a ttention to the problems of implementing egalitarian or
redistributionist values, and the attendant expansion of the power
and machinery of the state which threaten individual rights also
cher·ished by intellectuals.
Probably the commitment to equality derives its intensity and
passion from its fusion with the longing for community which is
much easier to envisage if it is an egalitarian enterprise . In any event
modern intellectuals (as I have noted elsewhere) are torn between
their heartfelt and morally sustaining egalitarianism and an irre–
pressible elitism. To be sure, not all of them subscribe to egalitar–
ianism but many take it for granted in some measure. Among the
merits of this volume is that it brings together both types, authors
not usually found between the same covers of books or journals.
Thus we find here on the one hand Isaiah Berlin, Peter Berger,
Robert Nozick and Michael Oakshott (a disparate group in its own
right by other criteria), as well as Hannah Arendt , Ronald Dworkin,
John Rawls and Michael Walzer, among others.
The current fluidity of attributes such as liberal and conser–
vative is illustrated by the editor's classification of Isaiah Berlin as a
major exponent and voice of modern liberalism. While this reviewer
agrees with him, others would label Berlin an arch-conservative.
If
in the more rarified and precise realm of philosophical discourse
somewhat different meanings attach to these terms, in the more
popular discourse a significant reinterpretation has taken place (over
the past quarter century or so) which has led to the frequent replace–
ment of the "liberal" appellation by "conservative" or "neoconser–
vative."
As the editor, Michael Sandel, sees it, his authors encompass a
spectrum ranging from liberatarian liberals (some would call them
these days conservatives) through egalitarian liberals (generally
perceived nowadays as the true liberals) to communitarians who
may overlap with either of the other two designations .
In some instances the essays (or excerpts) are not so much
focused on liberalism as on modernity, as for example the outstand–
ing piece by Peter Berger examining the conflict between modernity
and the concept of honor. While the volume brings together some
