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. |
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Page xii
... crime , and fraud , cannot be defined or understood without a prior theory of property . Nor is it possible to establish the familiar economic theorems relating to these phenomena without an implied notion of prop- erty and property ...
... crime , and fraud , cannot be defined or understood without a prior theory of property . Nor is it possible to establish the familiar economic theorems relating to these phenomena without an implied notion of prop- erty and property ...
Page xiii
... crimes , but only alternative systems of property rights assignments describing different activities as right and wrong . Lacking any absolute ethical standards , the choice between alternative systems of property rights assignments ...
... crimes , but only alternative systems of property rights assignments describing different activities as right and wrong . Lacking any absolute ethical standards , the choice between alternative systems of property rights assignments ...
Page xxxv
... , moral degeneration , and crime — were an obvious embar- rassment and intellectual debacle for the social - democratic academic establishment , 30 they provided dramatic empirical confirmation for Rothbard INTRODUCTION XXXV.
... , moral degeneration , and crime — were an obvious embar- rassment and intellectual debacle for the social - democratic academic establishment , 30 they provided dramatic empirical confirmation for Rothbard INTRODUCTION XXXV.
Page xli
... crime , it would seem that their crime then must be equiv- alent to murder . Should abortion accordingly be threatened with capital punishment and convicted abortionist mothers be executed ? But who , except its mother , can possibly ...
... crime , it would seem that their crime then must be equiv- alent to murder . Should abortion accordingly be threatened with capital punishment and convicted abortionist mothers be executed ? But who , except its mother , can possibly ...
Page xlviii
... Crime " can then be defined and properly analyzed as a violent invasion or aggression against the just property of another individual ( including his property in his own person ) . The positive theory of liberty then becomes an analysis ...
... Crime " can then be defined and properly analyzed as a violent invasion or aggression against the just property of another individual ( including his property in his own person ) . The positive theory of liberty then becomes an analysis ...
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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.