Description
"Individuals have rights," Nozick writes in his opening sentence, "and there are things no person or group may do to them without violating their rights." The work that follows is a sophisticated and passionate defence of the rights of the individual as opposed to the state.
The author argues that the state is justified only when it is severely limited to the narrow function of protection against force, theft and fraud and to the enforcement of contracts. Any more extensive activities by the state, he demonstrates, will inevitably violate individual rights.
Among the many achievements of the work are an important new theory of distributive justice, a model of utopia, and an integration of ethics, legal philosophy and economic theory into a profound position in political philosophy which will be discussed for years to come.
Reviews
"...This book is the best piece of sustained analytical argument in political philosophy to have appeared for a very long time." Mind
"...complex, sophisticated and ingenious." Economist
Book Information
ISBN 9780631197805
Author Robert Nozick
Format Paperback
Page Count 384
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 595g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 155mm * 25mm
