Don't try to simplify the world into one in which you live…

Abstract

In this article I examine the extraordinary biography of Sir Ralf Dahrendorf. The cohesion between society and freedom was a crucial theme in all his works. He was deeply convinced that the equilibrium theories were unable to describe the characteristics of social reality. On the contrary, conflict theory is more appropriate to explain the development of society. According to Dahrendorf, the idea of regulation of conflicts is a key feature in a liberal democracy.