Libertarian political philosophy reading list

Economics Political Theory
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Well, I was going to compile a list myself, but most helpfully an extensive one already exists here. I’ll just replicate it. I’ll add some additional works anyway in a separate post, and highlight those which I think are of great importance. I’ll leave the thread unlocked for a while should anyone have suggestions or comments.

Reading lists
Leftist Reading List
I'm new to libertarian thought. Can someone recommend me some reading?
The best way to understand political thinking is not through ideoloies but by yourself.
Books/audiobooks on writing laws in a libertarian society?
Capitalism and college
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Some additional works I wanted to add (the original list most consipicuously does not include works on minarchism, for obvious reasons):

Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State and Utopia

Jan Lester, Escaping From Leviathan

David Gordon, Resurrecting Marx

Richard Garner, Response to the Anarchist FAQ

Stephan Kinsella, How We Come to Own Ourselves

Causation and Aggression

Against Intellectual Property

A Libertarian Theory of Contracts: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability

In Defense of the Corporation

Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy and Callahan

Roderick Long, Reason and Value: Aristotle vs Rand

Anarchism vs Minarchism: Is a Government Part of a free country?

Foundations of Libertarian Ethics

Philosophy Seminar with Roderick Long

Hayek, Law, Legislation and Liberty (3 vols)

The Road to Serfdom

Hoppe, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property

A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism

Democracy - the God that Failed

Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

Atlas Shrugged

The Fountainhead

Leonard Peikoff, Objectivism

David Kelley, A Life of One’s Own

The Logical Structure of Objectivism

Douglas Rasmussen and Douglas Den Uyl, Norms of Liberty: A Perfectionist Basis for Non-Perfectionist Politics

Liberty and Nature: An Aristotelean Defence of the Liberal Order

In Defense of Natural End Ethics: A Rejoinder to O’Neil and Osterfeld

Douglas Rasmussen, A groundwork for rights: Man’s Natural end

Douglas Den Uyl, In Defense of Natural End Ethics

Joseph Salerno, Ludwig von Mises as Social Rationalist

James Otterson, Actual ethics

Henry Veatch, Rational Man: A Modern Interpretation of Aristotelean Ethics

For an Ontology of Morals: A Critique of Contemporary Ethical Theory

Geoffrey Allen Plauche, On the Social Contract and the Persistence of Anarchy

Aristotelian-Liberal Autonomy (Working Paper)

Moral Legislation and Democracy: The Devlin-Hart-Dworkin Debate Revisited

Chris M. Sciabarra, Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism

Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue

Larry Eshelman, Ludwig von Mises on Principle

Pascal Salin, Liberalisme

H. L. A Hart, Are there any natural rights?

John Hasnas, The Obviousness of anarchy

Benjamin Barros, Property and Freedom

Mises Institute Media Resources (esp. seminars; good for those who don’t like or don’t have the time for reading)

The following homepages are also worthwhile visiting:

Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Stephan Kinsella (publications)

Roderick Long

Geoffrey A. Plauche (publications)

Kevin Carson

Alliance of the Libertarian Left

Molinary Institute

Ludwig von Mises Institute

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PIN PRZ

4

It’s funny…most of the books and essays I would have thought to recommend are conspicuously absent from your list. Specifically, those which require one to refine what it means to be a libertarian, and how libertarianism differs from other views, aren’t really there. Glad to see that at least Nozick made the cut! But with that in mind, I’ll offer my own reading list:

John Stuart Mill: On Liberty

Ludwig von Mises: The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality

John Locke: On Civil Government (the “second treatise”)

Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Judith Jarvis Thomson: Rights, Restitution, & Risk

Joel Feinberg: Social Philosophy

Freidrich August von Hayek: “The Use of Knowledge in Society”

Henry Hazlitt: Economics in One Lesson

Ronald Coase: “The Problem of Social Cost”

Garrett Hardin: “The Tragedy of the Commons”

Dan Hausman and Michael McPherson: Economic Analysis and Moral Philosophy

Lionel Robbins: “Interpersonal Comparisons of Utility: A Comment”

John Harsanyi: “Does Reason Tell Us What Moral Code to Follow and, Indeed, to Follow Any Moral Code at All?”

G. A. Cohen: Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality

Michael Otsuka: Libertarianism Without Inequality

Becky Mansfield: “Privatization: Property and the Remaking of Nature-Society Relations”

Randall Holcombe: “Common Property in Anarcho-Capitalism”

Roy Cordato: “Market-Based Environmentalism and the Free Market: They’re Not the Same”

Peter Hill: “Market-Based Environmentalism and the Free Market: Substitutes or Compliments?”

Mark Pennington: “Liberty, Markets, and Environmental Values: A Hayekian Defense of Free-Market Environmentalism”

David Roodman: “Another Take on Free-Market Environmentalism: A Friendly Critique”

Walter Block (ed): Economics and the Environment: A Reconciliation (especially Murray Rothbard’s “Law, Property Rights, and Air Pollution”)

Gerald Sauer: “Imposed Risk Controversies: A Critical Analysis”

Douglas Lackey: “Taking Risk Seriously”

Kristian Skagen Ekeli: “Environmental Risk, Uncertainty, and Intergenerational Ethics”

Kenneth Templeton, Jr. (ed): The Politicization of Society

William Graham Sumner: What Social Classes Owe to Each Other

David Beito, Peter Gordon, and Alexander Tabarrok (eds): The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society

The order of these selections was intentional, and I think anyone who hasn’t read these books and essays would benefit immensely from reading all of them. They represent a broad array of different viewpoints; not all of them are even written by libertarians. But the ideas contained in each of them have been critical to my understanding libertarianism as a philosophical position, and not just as an opinion. I don’t agree with most of them, but they’ve all helped me understand my own views a lot better. I’m sure there are a lot of things that absolutely should be on that list, but aren’t, and for that I apologize; I’m only 21. Most obviously, Rawls isn’t on the list because I haven’t actually read his books (A Theory of Justice and Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, specifically, would probably be on the list if I had read them). But the things on this list are, I think, the most important libertarian-themed books I’ve ever read (believe it or not, most of what I’ve read didn’t make the list), and hopefully that counts for something.

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WHOA! Dan, I did not see that one coming. [:P]

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Here’s my suggestion, if anyone wants to tackle it: To create a good reading list which can be done in one summer (for a college kid or a teacher.) In other words, not “where would you start?” and not “what do I ever need to read?” but something in between, a good overall coverage from which to begin a lifetime of study. I have some ideas, and if I ever get some free time (after the race) I will make my own list.

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I’ll do you one better. Here’s a short list that’ll teach you the basics of libertarianism over the course of a summer without needing to quit your day job. If you’re familiar with everything here, there shouldn’t be any conversation you’ll be completely in the dark about. Austrian economics, of course, is an entirely different matter, but I’ll leave that to others.

John Stuart Mill: On Liberty (It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that this is probably my favorite book in political philosophy. It’s rough, imprecise, and ultimately isn’t completely successful, but it provides a lot of the intuitive punch for pursuing the philosophy of libertarianism, and gives shape to a lot of intuitions that are critical for studying it.) - 200 pages or so.

Ludwig von Mises: The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality (Philosophically, it’s not so interesting, but the kind of case it makes for libertarianism is fundamentally different from the kinds made in the others, and so it’s definitely important. Mises’ passion is contagious, and the more outward-looking nature of his discussion is worth thinking about. Ultimately, this too fails to provide a definitive argument, but I still think it’s an indespensible part of the process of developing one’s intuitions.) - a little over 100 pages.

John Harsanyi: “Does Reason Tell Us What Moral Code to Follow and, Indeed, to Follow Any Moral Code at All?” (This essay is another one of my favorites. It builds on the same sort of thinking as Mises, and should be kept in mind when reading Nozick. It finally starts to move into more technical ground, and offers one kind of philosophical framework for thinking about morality and justice. It will contrast sharply with Nozick’s account, but it raises some questions that can feed endless contemplation.) - I think around 15 pages?

Robert Nozick: Anarchy, State, and Utopia (This is probably the most important book in libertarian philosophy, period, and represents a complete change of direction from Harsanyi’s sort of thinking. Though many libertarians disagree with Nozick’s justification of the minimal state, the ideas Nozick presents are invaluable and widely used. Anyone talking about libertarianism without having read this is doing himself and others a profound disservice.) - somewhere between 300 and 350 pages, I think.

Judith Jarvis Thomson: Rights, Restitution, & Risk (Read chapters 4 and 5; they’re excellent and add a lot to what Nozick said. Thomson’s approach to moral philosophy is excellent, and these chapters get right to the meat of what are probably the biggest questions in libertarianism.) - I think 30 pages or so.

If you read all of this, and really think about it, you’ll instantly be at a level above that of almost any non-academic philosopher. I promise.

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Danny, my list is incomplete still (and will be for a long time.) Thanks for the recommendations though. I will add them in later, and link them.

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For Veatch, there is also his book Human Rights: Fact or Fancy? And I think his essay “Natural Law: Dead or Alive?” is online somewhere.

For Rasmussen and Den Uyl, there is also their book Liberalism Defended.

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Locking the thread - if anyone has further suggestions, feel free to PM me.