Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Alexis de Tocqueville are commonly known for their critique of liberal democracy. However, in a fascinating new study, Morton Schoolman marshals novel readings of each theorist to argue for the value of a democratic polity in creating and sustaining what he terms “aesthetic individuality,” an ethical disposition toward the other that values difference as a resource in the ongoing project of forming the self.