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2022 Abstracts Stage 2

ACCORDING TO LIBERALISM, IS INDIVIDUAL WELFARE DEPENDENT ON STATE INTERACTION?

Archie O’Donnell, 2022, Stage 2

State interaction is a variable that each governing authority has to examine and judge in relation to individual welfare. After examining a variety of political philosophers and their beliefs on state interaction, I propose this thesis. While there is an argument for minimal state interaction, the most optimal way to promote individual welfare is through the level of state interaction that John Rawls proposes in A Theory of Justice. More state interaction than this is detrimental to individual welfare as it infringes on individual rights, and less state interaction than this has the potential to create vast inequalities within communities.

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