The Radical Notion of Individualism

Free Thoughts
E79 -

George H. Smith joins us to talk about Libertarianism.org’s first book, which is a reader on the topic of individualism.

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Hosts
Trevor Burrus
Research Fellow, Constitutional Studies
Aaron Ross Powell
Director and Editor
Guests
George H. Smith

George H. Smith was formerly Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Humane Studies, a lecturer on American History for Cato Summer Seminars, and Executive Editor of Knowledge Products. Smith’s fourth and most recent book, The System of Liberty, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013.

This week George H. Smith joins us to talk about Individualism: A Reader , the first in a series of readers published by Lib​er​tar​i​an​ism​.org and the Cato Institute. In it, Smith and his co-​editor Marilyn Moore have compiled 26 selections from 25 writers on the topic of individualism.

How has the idea of individualism evolved over time? What are some common misconceptions about individualism? Is a commitment to individualism somehow antithetical to the idea of community?