Escape From Leviathan: Libertarianism without Justificationism - Softcover

"Escape from Leviathan" remains a ground-breaking work while remaining an excellent introduction to libertarianism and social thought. It is essential reading for anyone interested in liberty and human welfare. Outstanding...he tackles the subject with the consummate skill of an expert in the field...Lester's arguments are presented with sophistication and are informed by an impressive mastery of the secondary literature. " (A) remarkable book, informed by a masterly knowledge of economics and filled with careful analytical detail. He deals with a vast range of criticisms, and in the process undoes a great deal of theoretical mischief on the relations between these important concepts, including much by philosophers of major reputation. His accounts of instrumental rationality, of property rights, of public goods problems, and of restitution for criminal cases, are important contributions and will be discussed with interest for long. Few among us will fail to benefit from reading it. " Lester's book develops a sustained and at times fresh and surprising argument for its compatibilist conclusions. It constitutes a formidable intellectual challenge to the social democratic establishment in political theory. " This is a political-philosophical defense of the classical-liberal compatibility thesis held by some libertarians that human liberty, human welfare, and the free market are not all at odds with each other. Adopting a critical-rationalist epistemology approach influenced by Karl Popper, the author engages primarily with philosophical critics of the compatibility thesis, as he moves among such topics as freewill, the nature of moralizing, intellectual property, and restitution and retribution through dialogue with the work of such figures as R.M. Hare, Robert Nozick, John Rawls, Murray Rothbard, and Amartya Sen.

The most relevant and plausible conceptions of economic rationality, interpersonal liberty, human welfare and private-property anarchy do not conflict in theory or practice. Using philosophy and social science, Escape from Leviathan defends this bold, non-normative, thesis from contrary positions in the scholarly literature. Writers considered include David Friedman, John Gray, R. M. Hare, Robert Nozick, Karl Popper, John Rawls, Murray Rothbard, Alan Ryan, Amartya Sen and Bernard Williams. The rationality assumptions of neoclassical and Austrian School economics are reconciled and related to liberty and welfare. A new pre-propertarian theory of interpersonal liberty as the absence of (initiated or proactively) imposed cost is argued to be libertarian. Human welfare is defended as the satisfaction of unimposed wants. Practical anarchy is simply unconstrained private property. Related topics include free will, weakness of will, the nature of moralising, intellectual property and restitution and retribution. Critical-rationalist epistemology (theories can only be criticised and tested, not justified or supported) is applied throughout. This is a ground-breaking work that is also an excellent introduction to libertarianism and social thought.