The Ethics of LibertyIn recent years, libertarian impulses have increasingly influenced national and economic debates, from welfare reform to efforts to curtail affirmative action. Murray N. Rothbard's classicThe Ethics of Libertystands as one of the most rigorous and philosophically sophisticated expositions of the libertarian political position.What distinguishes Rothbard's book is the manner in which it roots the case for freedom in the concept of natural rights and applies it to a host of practical problems. An economist by profession, Rothbard here proves himself equally at home with philosophy. And while his conclusions are radical--that a social order that strictly adheres to the rights of private property must exclude the institutionalized violence inherent in the state--his applications of libertarian principles prove surprisingly practical for a host of social dilemmas, solutions to which have eluded alternative traditions.The Ethics of Libertyauthoritatively established the anarcho-capitalist economic system as the most viable and the only principled option for a social order based on freedom. This edition is newly indexed and includes a new introduction that takes special note of the Robert Nozick-Rothbard controversies. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 47
Page xiii
... claims government judges should so assign them . Profoundly interested in and familiar with philosophy and the his- tory ... claim- ing ethical questions to be outside the realm of science and then predicting that property rights will be ...
... claims government judges should so assign them . Profoundly interested in and familiar with philosophy and the his- tory ... claim- ing ethical questions to be outside the realm of science and then predicting that property rights will be ...
Page xvi
... claim a rule to be a " law " ( just ) , it is necessary that such a rule be universally — equally — valid for everyone . In the second case of universal co - ownership , the requirement of equal rights for everyone is obviously ...
... claim a rule to be a " law " ( just ) , it is necessary that such a rule be universally — equally — valid for everyone . In the second case of universal co - ownership , the requirement of equal rights for everyone is obviously ...
Page xvii
... claim that these fundamental principles of just conduct or proper action were new or his own discovery , of course . Equipped with near encyclopedic knowledge ranging over the entire field of the sciences of man , he knew that — at ...
... claim that these fundamental principles of just conduct or proper action were new or his own discovery , of course . Equipped with near encyclopedic knowledge ranging over the entire field of the sciences of man , he knew that — at ...
Page xxii
... claiming " that the state may not use its coercive apparatus for the purpose of getting some citizens to aid others , or in order to prohibit activities to people for their own good or protection , " 15 even Nozick's conclusions placed ...
... claiming " that the state may not use its coercive apparatus for the purpose of getting some citizens to aid others , or in order to prohibit activities to people for their own good or protection , " 15 even Nozick's conclusions placed ...
Page xxiii
... claims rebutted by unlikely counterexamples , surprising theses , puzzles , abstract structural conditions , challenges to find another theory which fits a specified range of cases , startling conclusions , and so on . . . . One view ...
... claims rebutted by unlikely counterexamples , surprising theses , puzzles , abstract structural conditions , challenges to find another theory which fits a specified range of cases , startling conclusions , and so on . . . . One view ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
absolute action aggression aggressor Anarchy argument blackmail Chicago child claim coerced coercion coercive compensation compulsory concept contract course courts crime criminal critique Crusoe defense economic economist enforceable Ethics of Liberty example exchange existing F.A. Hayek fact feudal force free market free society freedom Furthermore goal Hayek Hence human Ibid individual intellectual invasion Jones Journal of Libertarian justice labor laissez-faire land legitimate libertarian society Libertarian Studies Ludwig von Mises man's means Mises modern monopoly moral murder Murray Murray N natural law natural rights Nozick owner ownership parents political philosophy Power and Market praxeology principle private property problem production promise property rights property titles protection punishment reason Robert Nozick Rothbard Roy Childs rules Ruritania self-ownership sell simply slavery Smith social someone statism suppose taxation taxes transformed ultra-minimal University Press utilitarian victim violate violence voluntary Walter Block York
Popular passages
Page xxii - Our main conclusions about the state are that a minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on, is justified; that any more extensive state will violate persons...
Page xiv - Among the essential features of this situation is that no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does any one know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength and the like.