Cees Maris is professor of legal philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. He is the editor of several journals in the fields of jurisprudence and philosophy. His main fields of research are the concept of liberty and its practical applications, multiculturalism, love, art, law and literature, and epistemology. Among his publications are A Critique of the Empiricist Explanation of Morality; Letters on Liberty; and Twelve Loves. He also wrote and brought on the stage the philosophical oratorio Horror Vacui (in cooperation with the composer José-Luis Greco) and the philosophical dialogue The Dance of Zarathustra.

Frans Jacobs is professor (emeritus) of philosophical ethics at the University van Amsterdam. His publications concern philosophers such as Aristotle, Spinoza, Hume, Kant, Schopenhauer, Mill, Habermas, Nozick and Nussbaum, and cover the themes of liberalism, paternalism, egalitarianism and nationalism, as well as toleration, civilized revenge, the meaning of life, the Homeric heroes, the difference between love and war, emotions in general and moral emotions in particular. His most recent book is A Philosophy of Emotions and Desires.

Jacques de Ville is professor of law at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. His main fields of research are constitutional theory, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis. His publications include Constitutional and Statutory Interpretation; Judicial Review of Administrative Action in South Africa; and the forthcoming Jacques Derrida: Law as Absolute Hospitality.

This book offers a historical overview on questions of individual autonomy and fundamental freedoms in a pluralistic society, and the extent to which modern Enlightenment values can serve as the universal foundation of law and society.