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The Ethics of Liberty Hardcover – Download: Adobe Reader, May 1, 1998

by Murray N. Rothbard (Author), Hans-Hermann Hoppe (Introduction)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 204 ratings
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The authoritative text on the libertarian political position

In recent years, libertarian impulses have increasingly influenced national and economic debates, from welfare reform to efforts to curtail affirmative action. Murray N. Rothbard's classic The Ethics of Liberty stands as one of the most rigorous and philosophically sophisticated expositions of the libertarian political position.

Rothbard’s unique argument roots the case for freedom in the concept of natural rights and applies it to a host of practical problems. And while his conclusions are radical―that a social order that strictly adheres to the rights of private property must exclude the institutionalized violence inherent in the state―Rothbard’s applications of libertarian principles prove surprisingly practical for a host of social dilemmas, solutions to which have eluded alternative traditions.

The Ethics of Liberty authoritatively established the anarcho-capitalist economic system as the most viable and the only principled option for a social order based on freedom. This classic book’s radical insights are sure to inspire a new generation of readers.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    308 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    NYU Press
  4. Publication date
    May 1, 1998
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.94 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0814775063
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0814775066
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Baer presents the larger history of the congregational conflict, which began long before the trial and continued long afterwards. She also exposes the thick complexity of the conflict, which involved competing understandings of citizenship in the new American republic. Hers is at once a social, cultural, and religious history."
-"Lutheran Quarterly",

"This case study is fascinating in part because of the richness of its sources."
-"The Journal of American History",

"This is microhistory at its best. Baer has selected a single event and brilliantly used it to explore the larger culture and society of the time. With great clarity and insight Baer has investigated multicultural issues of language and the assimilation of immigrants that are as relevant for us today as they were to Americans two centuries ago. This is a very important and timely book."-Gordon S. Wood, Brown University

"Vividly recreates this fascinating inter-ethnic group controversy about the meaning of language for culture and citizenship in the early republic."
-"American Historical Review",

"[A]s Baer explains in this excellent microhistory of the church community, [fights] over church governance and religious practice were significant in early republican Philadelphia... Baer wisely shrinks from making an easy conclusion about this fight between two factions in one community, both of which had a good cause for concern about their place and future in the new nation. In doing so, Baer has shed light on the dynamic processes by which immigrants--of all ethnicities--have fought to live together in the United States."-Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,

Book Description

This updated edition of a classic defense of libertarianism includes a new introduction.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ NYU Press; First Edition (May 1, 1998)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 308 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0814775063
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0814775066
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.44 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.94 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 204 ratings

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  1. Murray N. Rothbard

    Murray N. Rothbard

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Murray Newton Rothbard (/ˈmʌri ˈrɑːθbɑːrd/; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American heterodox economist of the Austrian School, a revisionist historian, and a political theorist(pp11, 286, 380) whose writings and personal influence played a seminal role in the development of modern libertarianism. Rothbard was the founder and leading theoretician of anarcho-capitalism, a staunch advocate of historical revisionism, and a central figure in the twentieth-century American libertarian movement. He wrote over twenty books on political theory, revisionist history, economics, and other subjects. Rothbard asserted that all services provided by the "monopoly system of the corporate state" could be provided more efficiently by the private sector and wrote that the state is "the organization of robbery systematized and writ large." He called fractional reserve banking a form of fraud and opposed central banking. He categorically opposed all military, political, and economic interventionism in the affairs of other nations.(pp4–5, 129) According to his protégé Hans-Hermann Hoppe, "There would be no anarcho-capitalist movement to speak of without Rothbard."

    Rothbard was a heterodox economist. Economist Jeff Herbener, who calls Rothbard his friend and "intellectual mentor", wrote that Rothbard received "only ostracism" from mainstream academia. Rothbard rejected mainstream economic methodologies and instead embraced the praxeology of his most important intellectual precursor, Ludwig von Mises. To promote his economic and political ideas, Rothbard joined Llewellyn H. "Lew" Rockwell, Jr. and Burton Blumert in 1982 to establish the Ludwig von Mises Institute in Alabama.

    Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Ludwig von Mises Institute [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Hans-Hermann Hoppe

    Hans-Hermann Hoppe

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    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
204 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

JJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic read for any lover of liberty!
Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2022
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Fantastic read for any lover of liberty! I just finished this book during an overhyped COVID pandemic as these western governments impose more senseless and absurd draconian measures. This book is more important than ever as our liberty is on the brink of extinction. The book is divided into five parts: Natural Law, A theory of Liberty, The State versus Liberty, Modern Alternative Theories of Liberty, and Toward a Theory of Strategy For Liberty. What distinguishes this book is the manner in which it roots the case for freedom in the concept of natural rights and applies it to a host of practical problems. I highly recommend this book to any liberty and freedom loving person.
3 people found this helpful
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Matthew Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone interested in libertarian/liberal concepts.
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2019
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Although Rothbard failed to create a sustainable libertarian moral framework, his formulation must still be read by those who wish to understand libertarianism and liberal morality. There have since been all manner of revisions of Rothbard's ideas, and even some complete diversions such as propertarianism, but nevertheless his original codification of self-ownership and the rights that extend therefrom is important to know.

I'm no longer a libertarian, having found its philosophical predications to be wanting, but this is still a fascinating read.
5 people found this helpful
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R A Martin Jr
5.0 out of 5 stars Must read!
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2021
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This is a must read.

The book came in on time as promised and in excellent condition.

Did I mention tis was a must read? Seriously read the book. This will influence opinion.
One person found this helpful
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John S. Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic defense of property rights; great new intro, format
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 1998
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Murray Newton Rothbard's classic hard-hitting defense of property-rights-based libertarianism is deservedly back in print, with a valuable new introduction by Hans-Hermann Hoppe that alone is worth the price of the book even for those who already own the original. Prof. Hoppe helpfully locates Rothbard in libertarian scholarly tradition, explains why Rothbard's work was unjustly ignored while unsystematic but "tolerant" thinkers like Robert Nozick were unfairly elevated, refutes the major criticisms that have been offered of Rothbard's work since the original publication of _The Ethics of Liberty_, and effectively argues that for natural-law theorist Rothbard, libertarianism was not "libertinism" but socially quite conservative. Also helpful is the new format, in which the book's former end-notes are arranged in footnote style rather than collected at the end of each chapter.
51 people found this helpful
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Odom
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
Reviewed in the United States on March 20, 2022
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Must read
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Shqiponja
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for anyone interested in economics and liberty.
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2016
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Rothbard was an amazing and intelligent man. Rothbard's logic is very consistent, something rare in this day and age where our economy is ruled by Keynesian supporters. This book is incredible. Even if one still prefers a state, this book is an incredibly important read. Highly recommended.
6 people found this helpful
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Steve Jackson
4.0 out of 5 stars The Ethics of Anarchy
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2001
Murray Rothbard was the leading libertarian thinker of the 20th century. In 1982, he published THE ETHICS OF LIBERTY, his central work on political theory and ethics. This work was republished recently with an excellent introduction by Hans-Hermann Hope (the endnotes have been converted into footnotes, a big improvement).
This work is probably the best discussion of libertarian philosophy from an anarcho-capitalist perspective. In addition, Rothbard develops a theory based on natural law, thus distancing himself from other strands of libertarian thought.
The book is particularly comprehensive. Starting with a discussion of natural law, Rothbard turns to practical issues such as voluntary exchange, contracts, and the rights of children. He then discusses the concept of the state. He ends the work with discussions of different approaches to rights and a strategy for advancing liberty. The comprehensive nature of the work is also its greatest weakness. Rothbard discusses too many subjects in too few pages. For example, the difficult question of the rights of children takes all of 15 pages. Yet there is no more difficult question for any theory of rights than that question.
Rothbard's discussion of the rights of children is emblematic of the weakness and at times superficial nature of this work. Take Rothbard's discussion of when the parents' "jurisdiction" over a child ends. He states: "Surely, any particular age (21, 18, or whatever) can only be completely arbitrary. The clue to the solution to this thorny question lies in the parental property rights in their home. For the child has his FULL rights of self-ownership WHEN HE DEMONSTRATES THAT HE HAS THEM IN NATURE-in short when he leaves or `runs away' from home." [p. 103; emphasis in the original.] First of all, it may be arbitrary to establish the age of emancipation at 18 rather than 17, but such decisions are found in all areas of life and are not thereby rendered "completely arbitrary." In any event, is it "completely arbitrary" to set it at 18 rather than 5? Moreover, Rothbard's "solution" is in most respects even more arbitrary. For example, if Junior Jones runs away when he is 8 years old, does that mean his parents cannot force him to stay? What if Junior is 5 and wanders off his parents' property and stays at the Smiths' house, asserting that he would prefer to live with the Smiths. Has he then demonstrated a "right to self-ownership" in nature? Would it be wrong for the Joneses to take him back? Rothbard uses a similar argument against Laissez-faire advocates of limited government who believe the state may provided limited protection services. Supposedly their views fail because how much or little services such a government might provide can only be "purely arbitrary." [p. 181.] This type of argument leads Rothbard to advocate abortion-on-demand, a position with which I strongly disagree.
For whatever flaws it contains, THE ETHICS OF LIBERTY it is certainly one of the most provocative books you will ever read.
30 people found this helpful
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D. Cole
5.0 out of 5 stars required reading.
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2015
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A must read for any libertarian, AnCap, or fan of Rothbard. I would recommend Rothbard in general but the libs and cons aren't very tolerant of ideas that expose their moral inconsistency, lack of understanding of economics and history, and incapability to remain skeptical of what they think they think they know.
6 people found this helpful
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miau-miau
5.0 out of 5 stars Eine Warnung
Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2024
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Ich sage hier nichts Schlechtes über das Buch. Allerdings hatte ich vorschnell Kaufen gedrückt und mir nicht viel dabei gedacht über das Format "large print". Das Buch kommt daher wie ein Skript für die Uni oder so, das man über's Semester verheizt und danach weg damit - ein Schandfleck für mein Bücherregal. Der Druck ist auch nicht so groß, daß man ohne Lesebrille auskommen würde, nur das Format ist riesig und billig. Kauft euch das Buch im üblichen Format, da habt ihr mehr Freude dran.
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Lacombe
5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory to understand liberty
Reviewed in France on September 21, 2023
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Mandatory for anyone who wants to understand what liberty really is.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamental para no ir de lelo por el mundo
Reviewed in Spain on June 5, 2017
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Claro, conciso, convincente. En la línea de Rothbard. Llamando al pan pan y al vino vino. Si cree que la libertad es un bien pero tiene dudas sobre la moral de su aplicación, éste es un buen libro para deshacerse de ellas.
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Emir Catovic
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All Libertarians and Capitalists
Reviewed in Australia on October 13, 2020
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This book changed my outlook on the world and my life. If that is not a strong enough review I don't know what is

Read this book to learn about why liberty and capitalism is the moral choice for humanity. You will not be disappointed
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Arthur Koestler
5.0 out of 5 stars Cracking read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2017
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Written very clearly as always with potentially complex theory being presented in a more than comprehensible fashion. Rothbard's uses the weight of reason and logic alone to make an unrelenting moral case for anarchism, this book ad argument is free of anecdote and emotional demagoguery
One person found this helpful
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