Philosophy

In this third and final essay in the series celebrating the 50th anniversary of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Eric Mack returns to a fuller consideration of how Nozick defends the legitimacy of the minimal state against the anarchist arguments advanced by Murray Rothbard.

In this second essay commemorating the 50^th anniversary of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Eric Mack offers further reflections on a selection of key themes of enduring interest in Nozick’s seminal work.

Eric Mack introduces Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia, one of the most important works of libertarian political philosophy.

The entitlement-​desert distinction plays a pivotal role in the debate between Rawls and Nozick. What did Nozick take those concepts to mean?

Joel Feinberg’s work on desert plays a pivotal role in modern libertarian moral philosophy.

Paine urged the colonists not to replicate the aspects of the English constitution that caused it to degenerate.

A painting commissioned by Thomas Jefferson ties together the foundations of the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment liberalism.

Gregg calls liberal thinkers to once again study and advocate for the progress of civilization.

Klein assesses George Will’s two most renowned books, 36 years apart, Statecraft as Soulcraft (1983) and The Conservative Sensibility (2019), finding some changes upon an underlying continuity—rather like the two levels of human nature exposited by Will 1983.

The 17th-​century Englishman John Cooke was one of the tyranny’s greatest enemies, being the first-​ever person to prosecute a head of state for crimes against humanity.

For Aristotle private property was about more than economic gains.

Adherents to ancient philosophy of Stoicism were deeply committed to cosmopolitan ideals of treating all people with respect and dignity regardless of race or nationality.

Locke wanted to prove that the world is not a mere amalgam of violence and arbitrary authority and that there is something that separates a legitimate from an illegitimate government.

One of the most significant thinkers who shaped Locke’s philosophy, despite preceding him by eighteen centuries, is Marcus Tullius Cicero.

On Liberty is not merely a political text explaining the intricacies of how the state ought to act. It is a love letter to the individual virtues of intellectual curiosity, tolerance, and open-​mindedness.