Many readers of this blog will know Eric Mack’s work. He is the leading libertarian political philosopher. And he has just put together a nice new book explaining libertarian political philosophy and its various varieties. There’s a lot of new innovative stuff there, even for libertarian political philosophers who know the field. Do buy it. It’s under $20.

Here’s what some important people say about the book. My Amazon review is below theirs.

“This book is, unquestionably, the best available account of the literature on the philosophical foundations of modern libertarianism. Mack, himself a major contributor to that literature, carefully tracks its historical origins and offers an impressively acute analysis of the works of libertarianism’s leading contemporary exponents.”

Hillel Steiner, University of Manchester

“Eric Mack is at once one of the gentlest but also one of the most probing critics our profession has ever seen. His reconstructions are works of art, even when he ultimately disagrees.  Mack has been as good as it gets for a very long time, and this is his greatest work.”

David Schmidtz, University of Arizona

“This book is one of the best introductions to libertarian political philosophy ever written. Eric Mack is perhaps the leading libertarian political philosopher, and he ably and brilliantly solidifies that reputation. He develops sophisticated analyses of the chief libertarian minds, from John Locke to Robert Nozick (Mack is a highly regarded scholar of both Locke and Nozick in particular). Mack also provides novel defenses of libertarianism against criticisms from egalitarian liberals like John Rawls and socialists like G. A. Cohen. There are rich discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of certain historical arguments for libertarianism. I found the discussions of F. A. Hayek and Herbert Spencer especially illuminating. Despite the breadth of the book’s subject, Mack also remains clear and concise.

What impresses me most about the book is that it provides a rich understanding of the best arguments for and against libertarianism while remaining free from much of the hagiography and ideology present in many sympathetic discussions of libertarian political thought.”

Kevin Vallier, Bowling Green State University