Abstract

The radical liberal ideal of a completely neutral state is unattainable. A liberal society must educate its young, and this means engendering liberal principles in them. Fear of the law is not sufficient to sustain liberal society; conversely, if everything depends on fear of the law, the result will be the multiplication of laws in order to regulate everything, education having failed to impart self‐restraint. Nor is the desire for freedom so natural that it need not be implanted through education. For similar reasons, the welfare state and a degree of economic regulation are, at least at this point in history, necessary for the survival of liberal societies.