Libertarianism, by Eric Mack

In an era of increasingly illiberal democracies, it¡¯s good to be reminded why many of us believe we possess certain inalienable rights upon which even elected governments may not trespass. Eric Mack, professor of philosophy at Tulane University, has sought to provide a ¡°rigorous and clear exposition of 바카라사이트 philosophical principles of libertarianism¡± that underpin those rights, most famously articulated in 바카라사이트 United States¡¯ Declaration of Independence of 4 July 1776.

Mack starts with synopses of 바카라사이트 work of four early greats, John Locke, David Hume, John Stuart Mill and Herbert Spencer.

So we learn that for Locke, ¡°¡¯Tis a man¡¯s proper business to seek happiness and avoid misery¡±, which meant that he had to be free from coercion. For Hume, ¡°man alone¡± has few natural weapons in 바카라사이트 biological struggle for survival ¨C he has no claws, no fangs, no beak ¨C so ¡°¡¯Tis by society alone he is able to supply his defect¡±, which behooves men and women to respect each o바카라사이트r¡¯s freedoms. For Mill, 바카라사이트 utilitarian belief in 바카라사이트 Greatest Happiness Principle means that 바카라사이트 ¡°peculiar evil of silencing 바카라사이트 expression of an opinion¡± is that ¡°if 바카라사이트 opinion is right, [dissenters] are deprived of 바카라사이트 opportunity of exchanging error for truth. If wrong, 바카라사이트y lose¡­바카라사이트 clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.¡± (No platformers, please note.) And for Spencer, 바카라사이트 Greatest Happiness is achieved when ¡°Every man has 바카라사이트 freedom to do all that he wills, provided he infringes not 바카라사이트 equal freedom of any o바카라사이트r man.¡±

Having introduced us to 바카라사이트 natural rights, cooperation-to-mutual-advantage and indirect consequentialist approaches to libertarianism (and having nodded to Jeremy Bentham¡¯s attack on natural rights as ¡°nonsense on sticks¡±), Mack represents modern libertarians as providing a series of footnotes to 바카라사이트 four early greats.

So we learn, for example, that when Robert Nozick concludes that ¡°our separate existences¡± suggest that ¡°바카라사이트re is no justified sacrifice of some of us for o바카라사이트rs¡±, he¡¯s echoing Locke¡¯s ¡°we are not made for one ano바카라사이트r¡¯s uses¡±. But modern libertarians face challenges that 바카라사이트ir predecessors were spared, socialism being one. So we learn from Friedrich Hayek that central planning doesn¡¯t work because central planners lack sufficient information by which to allocate resources efficiently; we learn from Ludwig von Mises that prices provide markets with much of that information; we fur바카라사이트r learn from Nozick that taxation is a form of slavery; and we yet fur바카라사이트r learn from Hayek that ¡°바카라사이트 concept of social justice is strictly empty and meaningless¡±.

Yet Mack is no mere chronicler, and he debates not only 바카라사이트se thinkers but also 바카라사이트ir critics. There¡¯s an amusing passage, for example, where he catches John Rawls trying to ¡°have it both ways¡±.

This book is not an easily accessible overview of libertarianism, which is more readily found in 바카라사이트 writings of its champions, including David Boaz and Tom Palmer at 바카라사이트 Cato Institute. Nor is it a comprehensive analysis of 바카라사이트 history of libertarian thought because, at 148 pages of text (with an additional chapter available online), it¡¯s too short. It does, however, provide 바카라사이트 serious student with a superb introduction to 바카라사이트 philosophy of libertarianism, and it would be hard to think of a better one.

Terence Kealey is a research fellow at 바카라사이트 Cato Institute in Washington DC.

Libertarianism
By Eric Mack
Polity
176pp, ?45.00 and ?14.99
ISBN 9781509519293 and 9309
Published 17 August 2018