In theorizing justice, equality, freedom, authority, and the like, political philosophers often rely tacitly upon particular conceptions of the self and individual autonomy. Traditional forms of liberalism seem to assume a conception of the self according to which selves are self-interested rational choosers of their ends who are fundamentally asocial. Longstanding critiques of liberalism contend that liberalism assumes a flawed conception of the self. These views hold that once one recognizes the thoroughly social and relational nature of the self, one must reject liberalism as a framework for political theory.
In
The Politics of Persons; Individual Autonomy and Socio-historical Selves (Cambridge University Press, 2011),
John Christman seeks to develop a form of liberalism that can accommodate insights offered by liberalism's critics about the nature of the self. Christman develops a liberal theory based in a socio-historical view of the self and individual autonomy.