Work
Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Overview
Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a 1974 book by the American political philosopher Robert Nozick. It won the 1975 US National Book Award in category Philosophy and Religion, has been translated into 11 languages, and was named one of the "100 most influential books since the war" (1945–1995) by the UK Times Literary Supplement.
In opposition to A Theory of Justice (1971) by John Rawls, and in debate with Michael Walzer, Nozick argues in favor of a minimal state, "limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on", though his position on fraud is debated. When a state takes on more responsibilities than these, Nozick argues, rights will be violated. To support the idea of the minimal state, Nozick presents an argument that illustrates how the minimalist state arises naturally from a Lockean state of nature and how any expansion of state power past this minimalist threshold is unjustified.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Related ideas
- Anarcho-capitalism
- Friedrich Hayek
- John Rawls
- Basic Books
- Philosophy
- Immanuel Kant
- Cato Institute
- John Locke
- Karl Marx
- The Times Literary Supplement
- Thomas Nagel
- The Guardian
- Max Weber
- Murray Rothbard
- Non-aggression principle
- Natural law
- Political philosophy
- A Theory of Justice
- Herbert Spencer
- Robert Nozick
- State of nature
- Invisible hand
- H. L. A. Hart
- Utilitarianism
Place in the tradition
Part of American philosophy.
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