In his first chapter on the state of nature, Nozick presciently notes that starting from arbitrary or nonfactual premises makes any conclusion less applicable, and that political theory is only as good as its moral foundations. In this section, I will bring some of Nozick’s assumptions to light to see whether they withstand scrutiny. Unfortunately, I have the sense that his caveats are not heeded by many of his disciples. It is undoubtedly an impressive piece of philosophy, and I appreciate his cautious, humble tone throughout his work. The Foundations of Nozick’s LibertopiaĪs a person who grew up adjacent to the libertarian movement, I was excited to read through Nozick’s oft-cited Anarchy, State, and Utopia. A dose of social justice properly construed might be just what we need in the wake of our current administration. Hayek and Rawls together cover the libertarian and egalitarian roots of our evolved morality, and their unique perspectives show a surprising amount of overlap.

When it comes to Rawls, his ideal theory of distributive justice is remarkably compatible with many of Nozick and Hayek’s concerns. As a result, it has more in common with our moral sense. Hayek also supports a doctrine of negative rights, but his pragmatic formulation makes room for the government to preempt market coercion. Nozick’s paradigm of strictly negative rights has been a clarion call for the libertarian movement, but it rests of surprisingly weak premises. For the purposes of this symposium, I hope to convince the reader that Hayek and Rawls are a natural pair for a just political economy and that Nozick is better left to dorm room debates.

In the postwar period, these ideologies were best articulated by the political philosophers Friedrich Hayek, John Rawls, and Robert Nozick, respectively. The growth of government during the 20 th century split the liberal movement into classical liberals, progressives, and libertarians. To receive a print copy and read the other essays, order here.

This essay is a contribution from our symposium Toward a Just Political Economy.

Nozick books