#shklar

[whentheynyan]

We can never be despised more than we deserve.

[whentheynyan]

The victim as hero represents the possibility of universal human freedom, even in chains.

[publicatiosui]

This is supposed to be 'substantially' rational in a way that the liberalism of fear, with its attention to procedures and outcomes, is not. But in fact the argument is not about rationality at all, but about expectations of radical social change and of utopian aspirations. The accusation of 'instrumentality,' if it means anything at all, amounts to a disdain for those who do not want to pay the price of utopian ventures, least of all those invented by other people. --Judith Shklar, "The Liberalism of Fear"