Humean Libertarianism

Humean Libertarianism PDF Author: Marius Backmann
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110320703
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
What does it mean for an agent to be free? Is determinism true? What are laws of nature? This book deals with the interconnections between these questions. Backmann argues for the view that libertarianism can be reconciled with determinism. In order to reach this goal, libertarianism – classically defined as an incompatibilist theory of free will – is defined as the thesis that at the time of decision, the agent must be able to choose between alternative courses of action. Backmann claims that this notion of libertarianism can be reconciled with determinism provided that determinism is understood in a Humean fashion, i.e. backed by a Humean theory of laws of nature. The resulting view – Humean Libertarianism – is an intermediate position between classical compatibilism and incompatibilism.

Humean Libertarianism

Humean Libertarianism PDF Author: Marius Backmann
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110320703
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does it mean for an agent to be free? Is determinism true? What are laws of nature? This book deals with the interconnections between these questions. Backmann argues for the view that libertarianism can be reconciled with determinism. In order to reach this goal, libertarianism – classically defined as an incompatibilist theory of free will – is defined as the thesis that at the time of decision, the agent must be able to choose between alternative courses of action. Backmann claims that this notion of libertarianism can be reconciled with determinism provided that determinism is understood in a Humean fashion, i.e. backed by a Humean theory of laws of nature. The resulting view – Humean Libertarianism – is an intermediate position between classical compatibilism and incompatibilism.

Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment

Hume and the Politics of Enlightenment PDF Author: Thomas W. Merrill
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107108705
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 213

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Book Description
This work explores Hume's Socratic turn to moral and political philosophy as a response to the crisis of radical questioning.

Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism

Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism PDF Author: George H. Smith
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1944424407
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 134

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Book Description
There is a well-worn image and phrase for libertarianism: ?atomized individualism.? This hobgoblin has spread so thoroughly that even some libertarians think their philosophy unreservedly supports private persons, whatever the situation, whatever their behavior. Smith?s Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism, corrects this misrepresentation with careful intellectual surveys of Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Butler, Mandeville, and Hutcheson and their respective contributions to political philosophy.

A Minimal Libertarianism

A Minimal Libertarianism PDF Author: Christopher Evan Franklin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190682787
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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Book Description
In this book, Christopher Evan Franklin develops and defends a novel version of event-causal libertarianism. This view is a combination of libertarianism--the view that humans sometimes act freely and that those actions are the causal upshots of nondeterministic processes--and agency reductionism--the view that the causal role of the agent in exercises of free will is exhausted by the causal role of mental states and events (e.g., desires and beliefs) involving the agent. Franklin boldly counteracts a dominant theory that has similar aims, put forth by well-known philosopher Robert Kane. Many philosophers contend that event-causal libertarians have no advantage over compatibilists when it comes to securing a distinctively valuable kind of freedom and responsibility. To Franklin, this position is mistaken. Assuming agency reductionism is true, event-causal libertarians need only adopt the most plausible compatibilist theory and add indeterminism at the proper juncture in the genesis of human action. The result is minimal event-causal libertarianism: a model of free will with the metaphysical simplicity of compatibilism and the intuitive power of libertarianism. And yet a worry remains: toward the end of the book, Franklin reconsiders his assumption of agency reductionism, arguing that this picture faces a hitherto unsolved problem. This problem, however, has nothing to do with indeterminism or determinism, or even libertarianism or compatibilism, but with how to understand the nature of the self and its role in the genesis of action. Crucially, if this problem proves unsolvable, then not only is event-causal libertarianism untenable, so also is event-causal compatibilism.

The Problem of Political Authority

The Problem of Political Authority PDF Author: Michael Huemer
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137281669
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
The state is often ascribed a special sort of authority, one that obliges citizens to obey its commands and entitles the state to enforce those commands through threats of violence. This book argues that this notion is a moral illusion: no one has ever possessed that sort of authority.

GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED

GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED PDF Author: E. F. Schumacher
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060906111
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living. Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living. Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead. A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.

The Libertarian Mind

The Libertarian Mind PDF Author: David Boaz
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476752877
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

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Book Description
A revised, updated, and retitled edition of David Boaz’s classic book Libertarianism: A Primer, which was praised as uniting “history, philosophy, economics and law—spiced with just the right anecdotes—to bring alive a vital tradition of American political thought that deserves to be honored today” (Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago). Libertarianism—the philosophy of personal and economic freedom—has deep roots in Western civilization and in American history, and it’s growing stronger. Two long wars, chronic deficits, the financial crisis, the costly drug war, the campaigns of Ron Paul and Rand Paul, the growth of executive power under Presidents Bush and Obama, and the revelations about NSA abuses have pushed millions more Americans in a libertarian direction. Libertarianism: A Primer, by David Boaz, the longtime executive vice president of the Cato Institute, continues to be the best available guide to the history, ideas, and growth of this increasingly important political movement—and now it has been updated throughout and with a new title: The Libertarian Mind. Boaz has updated the book with new information on the threat of government surveillance; the policies that led up to and stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis; corruption in Washington; and the unsustainable welfare state. The Libertarian Mind is the ultimate resource for the current, burgeoning libertarian movement.

Libertarianism

Libertarianism PDF Author: Eric Mack
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1509519335
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 122

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Book Description
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.

On Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism

On Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism PDF Author: Norman Barry
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349187275
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
This first systematic analysis of the full range of classical liberal thinking covers the utilitarianism of Hume, Smith and their successors, the Austrian and Chicago schools of political economy, 'contractarian' liberalism and the ethical individualism of Ayn Rand and Robert Nozick. Norman Barry also discusses the hitherto barely understood theory of anarcho-capitalism and throughout his analysis draws attention to the differences in fundamental philosophical outlook that underline superficially similar policy positions.

Getting Libertarianism Right

Getting Libertarianism Right PDF Author: Hans-Hermann Hoppe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781610166904
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Useful as a brief statement of where Hoppe stands on the most important issues within the libertrarian movement - and the most important issues of our age. Some regard Hoppe as the greatest living libertarian, others as the devil. The only point of agreement is that he is a thinker who cannot be ignored.