The essence of libertarianism is the view that coercive political
institutions, such as the state, are justified only insofar as they
function to protect each person's liberty to pursue their own goals and
well-being in their own way. Libertarians accordingly argue that any
attempt to enforce top-down concepts of social justice or economic
equality are fundamentally misconceived.
In this book, leading expert Eric Mack provides a rigorous and clear
account of the philosophical principles of libertarianism. He offers
accounts of three distinctive schools of libertarian thought, which he
labels the natural rights approach, the cooperation to mutual advantage
approach, and the indirect consequentialist approach. After examining
the historical roots of these approaches in the thought of figures such
as John Locke and David Hume, he provides illuminating accounts of the
foundational arguments and the theories of economic justice offered by
Robert Nozick and F.A. Hayek. He then examines a range of other debates,
such as those surrounding the nature of the minimal state and those
between critics and defenders of libertarianism.
This book will be essential reading for anyone interested in political
philosophy, political ideologies and the nature of liberty and state
authority, from students and scholars to general readers.
