二十世紀末九○年代的美國，瀰漫著對個人主義的撻伐與對政府威權的不滿。批 評的矛頭指向主導美國社會潮流的個人中心思想；批評者開始質疑個人主義的社會功能，甚 且認為個人主義乃是社會問題叢生的根源。學者莫瑞（ Murray ）、狄恩（ Dionne ）等， 更據此提出美國人應該揚棄以個人私利為主的個人主義，而回歸社區群體。本文針對莫瑞等 提議違反美國精神（ American Creed ）部分，分析其可能遭遇之挑戰。
America in the 1990s is permeating a pervasive unhappiness with things as they are. Discontent comes to be the prevailing disposition when authority, hierarchy, specialization, and expertise are widely questioned or rejected. Discarding self-interest-oriented individualism, Charles Murray and E. J. Dionne propose little platoons, communitarian affiliations, and community norms as resolutions to some problems that face America nowadays. This paper intends to analyze the challenges to such proposals in terms of the essence that runs counter to the American Creed.
