This study develops a new concept of the political. As an outgrowth of freedom and law, the political bring together a priori and a posteriori aspects of individuals in interaction. Nomocracy and the liberal social contract are interpreted as an ideal system to regulate the coexistence of free beings. The systematic connection is made clear by reviewing classical proposals and critiques of the social contract from Hobbes through Hegel.

Rainer Schäfer, Peking University, Beijing, China.