The volume includes essays by some of the most important post-war thinkers of the 20th century, which reflect key aspects of the contemporary ethical-political debate. Specifically, it presents central positions of liberal egalitarianism and the criticism it faces from different schools of thought, such as libertarianism, socialism, political republicanism, and neo-Aristotelianism.

The authors grapple with the problem of moral justification in their endeavor to outline the nature of a good society. In the background, there is a broader reflection on the philosophical preconditions of modernity, on the history and prospects of modern societies today.

The reader can observe in the works of this volume the interplay between freedom and equality, justice and goodness, rights and virtues, the values of public and private life. At the same time, they can recognize the need for reflection on the constitutive values of modernity, the form of subjectivity it presupposes, and the political society to which it leads.