Liberalism and Communitarianism: A Misconceived Debate

Abstract

This article considers the criticisms made of liberal political thought by communitarians in the 1980s. It aims to clarify the communitarian critique and evaluate the force of communitarian criticisms of liberalism. It argues that communitarians advance three different types of claim: descriptive claims which stress that people are social beings; normative claims which celebrate the value of community and solidarity, and a meta-ethical claim emphasizing that political principles should mirror ‘shared understandings’. This article argues that the descriptive and normative claims espoused by communitarians are judged to be plausible but are accepted by liberals, and that the meta-ethical thesis is untenable and liberals are right to eschew it.