Currently viewing the tag: "Robert Nozick"

Natural Rights and Natural Stuff

By On April 23, 2012 · 57 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Left-libertarianism, Libertarianism, Rights Theory, Symposium on Libertarianism and Land

Since there are many different sorts of approaches to libertarianism – including many different sorts of moral approaches – there are many different sorts of routes to the topic of “Libertarianism and Land.”  Fortunately, the implicit context of this symposium is the natural rights approach to libertarianism – which I would (elsewhere) argue is the [...]

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Occupy the Mind — Nozick Edition. It ain’t ideology, it’s institutional analysis

By On April 10, 2012 · 23 Comments · In Academic Philosophy

On p. 272 of Anarchy, State and Utopia, Nozick writes the following:

Economically well-off persons desire greater political power, in a nonminimal state, because they can sue this power to give themselves differential economic benefits.  Where a locus of such power exists, it is not surprising that people attempt to use it for their own [...]

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Modern Libertarianism — Robert Nozick Process Theorist

By On April 9, 2012 · 12 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Libertarianism

Today we will be discussing the contributions of Robert Nozick to modern social philosophy and political economy.  It is my impression, perhaps wrong, that most philosophers and political theorists focus on Nozick’s “rights theory” and his rights-based arguments against Rawlsian social justice.

I don’t deny that such a reading makes sense, but I [...]

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Libertarianism…Starting Now!

By On March 27, 2012 · 156 Comments · In Left-libertarianism, Libertarianism

Adam, a Native American, and George, an American of European descent, encounter each other on the street. Adam sees that George is carrying a shiny new Ipad 3.  So Adam clubs George over the head with a stick and takes it.

George: “Ow! Give that back!”

Adam: “No.”

George: “But that’s mine! You just took [...]

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John Tomasi’s Free Market Fairness

By On February 6, 2012 · 27 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Book/Article Reviews, Current Events, Libertarianism, Social Justice

John Tomasi’s new book, Free Market Fairness, is scheduled for release this week. I read this book in draft form almost exactly a year ago, when John was out in San Diego for a Liberty Fund conference I was running on Classical Liberalism in Contemporary Political Philosophy. A few of us (including [...]

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Against Utilitarianism and Self-Ownership Defenses of Libertarianism

By On February 1, 2012 · 35 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Consequentialism, Libertarianism, Rights Theory

Perhaps the best argument against utilitarian and self-ownership defenses of libertarianism is this:

Utilitarianism is too consequence-sensitive and self-ownership is too consequence-insensitive.

It’s a simple criticism. Utilitarianism is well-known for being too insensitive to matters besides utility, such as the separateness of persons (as Rawls made famous in TJ). Utilitarianism [...]

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More on Talents

By On November 19, 2011 · 22 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Book/Article Reviews, Liberalism, Libertarianism, Liberty, Social Justice

This post is a continuation of the long and rich conversation generated by my previous post.  Some of the comments below reiterate, perhaps less artfully, some of the points already made.

I agree with Rawls’s defenders that by asserting that “society owns talents“ he does not, and could not, mean that the state can force [...]

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A Premise Questioned

By On November 13, 2011 · 79 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Book/Article Reviews, Left-libertarianism, Libertarianism, Rights Theory, Social Justice

I haven’t been posting lately because I’ve been working on topics not directly related to the theme of the blog.

I am reading G.A. Cohen’s Rescuing Justice and Equality. It is, like everything Jerry wrote, stimulating, original, and clever. The main claim in the book is that the Rawlsian argument for the [...]

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The Libertarian Critique of Distributive Justice

By On September 13, 2011 · 45 Comments · In Academic Philosophy, Libertarianism, Social Justice

There’s a common argument that libertarians make against the idea of social or distributive justice.  The argument, made by both Robert Nozick and Friedrich Hayek, purports to show not merely that the idea of distributive justice advocated by left-liberals like John Rawls is immoral, but that it is conceptually confused.  Asking whether the distribution of [...]

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Re-Reading Nozick: Two Definitions

By On July 6, 2011 · 10 Comments · In Academic Philosophy

I’m moving out of my house this week, so I won’t have as much time to post. But I wanted to post some clarifying definitions in light of some reader comments.

Here are two (though not the only two) fundamental questions in political philosophy:

1. Is it possible for governments to have legitimacy, and if [...]

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