According to Aschwin de Wolf, de Jasay has lost his eyesight. Inspecting the Foundations of Liberalism was published in March, 2010. Was this before or after his misfortune? Is his career defending civil society over or is he able to continue his writing even though he is blind? I think it is no understatement to say that de Jasay is the most important living anarcho-capitalist (no disrespect to Friedman, whatsoever). Please, if you have any information, let it be known.
I saw Aschwin de Wolf’s mention of it the other day, and was just as shocked. It’s very unfortunate for this great man, although it appears he will still be writing regularly. At least, EconLib has not announced anything regarding his monthly column.
This was not a sudden event. Anthony de Jasay has struggled with deteriorating eyesight for quite a while (see ‘Anthony de Jasay: A Salute’ by his friend IMD Little in the ‘Ordered Anarchy’ Festschrift). It does not seem to have much effect on the volume of his output, but his inability to read prevents him from writing heavily referenced books. One only needs to read his latest collection ‘Political Philosophy: Clearly’ to see that his recent writings have not lost any of their exceptional sharpness and originality. Don’t worry about de Jasay! He is still truckin’.
If Political Philosophy, Clealy was published in his current state of poor eyesight, then we have nothing to worry about. I would say that his work is getting more rigorous with age, not less.