Il pensiero politico di Ralf Dahrendorf. Fondamenti epistemologici e filosofia sociale

From the beginning, Dahrendorf was committed to giving an anthropological foundation to his political philosophy through the definition of three fundamental aspects. Firstly, human societies are considered historically determined entities; secondly, the primacy of the principle of coercion; and finally, the problem of inequality. Dahrendorf’s “new liberalism” must be interpreted essentially as a philosophy of transformation: it cannot be satisfied with the existing conditions, and therefore with the negative concept of freedom. Dahrendorf indeed became one of the interpreters of a radical criticism of conservative liberalism. The concept of active freedom is the solution to the most obvious deficit that this type of liberalism has shown. Furthermore, he is against systematic inequality and is therefore hostile to neoliberal policies. With their slogan “less State”, such policies have impersonated a restrictive trend against the extension of social rights. Meanwhile, the implementation of neoliberal policies causes renewed social divisions, as well as the start of a radicalisation process of those divisions