[866] in libertarians
Laissez Faire Book News: THE LIBERTARIAN IDEA
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Chris Whitten)
Tue Apr 4 16:58:01 1995
Date: Tue, 4 Apr 1995 16:11:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chris Whitten <lfb@panix.com>
Apparently-To: <libertarians@mit.edu>
Now available from Laissez Faire in paperback
THE LIBERTARIAN IDEA
by Jan Narveson
(reviewed by Roy A. Childs, Jr., March 1989)
Ever since the brilliant works of Robert Nozick and John Rawls--
*Anarchy, State, and Utopia* and *A Theory of Justice*--burst
upon us fifteen and nineteen years ago, there has been a
momentous revival of political philosophy in the West, and a
flurry of activity that only a few decades ago would have been
thought impossible. That's because contemporary philosophy had
all but declared normative issues closed, and moral and political
theory little more than fossilized remnants of the dusty past.
Normative theory was said to be emotive, murky, and meaningless
at best.
With Nozick and Rawls, however, the dust had been swept away, and
normative issues permanently reopened to the examination of reason
and philosophy. Rawls gave us a spirited defense of many strands of
contemporary liberalism, while Nozick, in his dazzling and
unprecedented work, gave us a "Libertarianism Without Foundations"
to use philosopher Thomas Nagel's term, that nearly singlehandedly
boosted libertarianism onto the map of theoretical respectability.
In the flood of critiques, examinations and cross-examinations that
have resulted, political philosophy has been restored to the place of a
sturdy, healthy discipline, with the libertarian viewpoint more than
holding its own as a respected minority position.
Even so, I could never have predicted this brilliant book: it is nothing
less than a sequel to *Anarchy, State, and Utopia* written by a
distinguished contemporary philosopher who has been examining
these issues for many years. Its title is *The Libertarian Idea* and
it is a full-fledged treatise on political philosophy examining and
defending libertarianism. It is an astonishingly dense and rich book
that constitutes a gigantic leap forward in libertarian thought, because
of its provocative scope and wealth of detailed arguments.
Like AS&U, *The Libertarian Idea* is addressed to contemporary
philosophers of all schools of thought. While it may lack AS&U's
surprise and shock value--who had ever heard of these crazy ideas
when Nozick's book first pounced on the world?--it makes up for it
by being more steady, systematic, and complete. It lacks the graphs
and the math--yippie!--and sticks to elegant prose. It is thus more
readable than AS&U, and will amply repay careful study with
pleasure and a solid understanding of the issues.
Who the hell is Jan Narveson? He's a respected philosopher who was
previously a convinced utilitarian, his book from the late 1960s,
*Morality and Utility* has been highly regarded. Then he decided to
take on Nozick's AS&U in a lengthy review, published in 1977. Still
later, he pondered deeply some of the arguments in David Gauthier's
semi-libertarian *Morals by Agreement*. He was so taken by these,
particularly by Nozick's tome, that they "persuaded me that
utilitarianism was an unsatisfactory theory. Still, libertarianism
seemed equally so at the time. In the ensuing decade, however, the
libertarian theory has come to seem to me more interesting and
plausible in its moral substance." Finally, he cast off his
utilitarianism, became a defender of individual rights and individual
liberty, and became a full-fledged convert to libertarianism. The rest,
as they say, is history.
In many ways *The Libertarian Idea* is even better than AS&U,
which Narveson acknowledges as its inspiration. Nozick asserted that
people have rights, and built what philosopher Thomas Nagel taunted
as a "Libertarianism Without Foundations." Narveson has gone him
one better. He presents the foundations.
Part One of Narveson's hefty treatise is a defense of the ultimate
coherence of libertarianism, particularly its basic conception of
liberty, rights, and property. (Some of the arguments about property
rights are themselves worth the price of admission here!) Part Two
demolishes moral intuitionism of all stripes and presents what
Narveson sees as the proper moral and philosophical underpinnings of
libertarianism--its foundations. Part Three deals in turn with
"Libertarianism and Reality" and discusses the social policy
implications of libertarianism.
These first two sections are particularly important contributions.
Narveson's discussions of the definition of liberty, the issues of
negative versus positive liberty/rights/obligations, coercion versus
pressuring, and interference versus nonassistance are all dealt with
better than anywhere else.
But there is more. Nozick had two weaknesses. One was his
unwillingness or inability to grapple with the foundations of rights
and libertarian-type liberties. Another was more personal: over the
years, as criticism of his views mounted, Nozick steadily declined to
defend his views, for the reason that his own personal and theoretical
interests had shifted elsewhere and he did not want to be tied down to
past work.
While Narveson is not uncritical of Nozick, he is nonetheless largely
a Nozick partisan, and takes a good deal of space throughout this
work to respond to Nozick's formidable critics, reformulating or
refining doctrines when necessary to answer objections. Narveson
fences with the opponents of libertarianism like a veritable Errol
Flynn, and it is a pleasure to watch him dispatch the collectivists'
arguments one by one.
Finally, his writing is lively and elegant, his sense of humor a
constant presence and even when you don't agree with him you have
to respect his integrity and intellectual courage.
*The Libertarian Idea* is a bold and wonderful book that offers a
cutting-edge challenge to contemporary political philosophy. I'd be
lying to you if I pretended to have digested it fully in the time given
over to this brief review. This is the kind of book that, once read
needs to be thought about and returned to, as you will, eagerly,
because it encourages you to rethink and refine your views. It is the
kind of book that takes your breath away and makes you glad you're
living in this century, where the rediscovery of liberty proceeds at
breakneck speed.
Book No. PH6263 (paperback) 361p. $19.95
LF PRICE ONLY $14.95
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