Dworkin makes a distinction between two kinds of moral commitment. We all have views about the ends of life, about
what constitutes a good life, which we and others ought to strive for. But we also acknowledge a commitment to deal fairly and equally with each other, regardless of how we conceive our ends. We might call this latter commitment “procedural,” while commitments concerning the ends of life are “substantive.” Dworkin claims that a liberal society is one that as a society adopts no particular substantive view about the ends of life. The society is, rather, united around a strong procedural commitment to treat people with equal respect. The reason that the polity as such can espouse no substan-