This Hegelian understanding of the meaning of contemporary
liberal democracy differs in a significant way from the AngloSaxon
understanding that was the theoretical basis of liberalism in
countries like Britain and the United States. In that tradition, the
prideful quest for recognition was to be subordinated to enlightened
self-interest--desire combined with reason-and particularly
the desire for self-preservation of the body. While Hobbes,
Locke, and the American Founding Fathers like Jefferson and
Madison believed that rights to a large extent existed as a means
of preserving a private sphere where