A Brief History of Liberty

David Schmidtz (Author), Jason Brennan (Author)

9781405170796, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 22 January 2010

288 pages
21.7 x 14 x 1.6 cm, 0.354 kg

"Although the book has a strongly classical liberal flavour, it also contains some interesting discussion of positive liberty. For one thing, Schmidtz and Brennan argue that the progress of negative liberty in western societies has massively expanded almost everyone's range of real options. For another, they suggest that this greater (negative and positive) external freedom can open the way to a greater internal or psychological" freedom". (The Philosophers' Magazine, 13 August 2010)

"Its brevity and simplicity is perhaps understandable, given the historical focus and ambitious scope of the book, and the authors' evident desire to get the light, entertaining and up-beat narrative moving." (The Philosopher's Magazine, August 2010)"The book weaves together a number of figures in social, political, philosophical, economic, and even psychological theory, in a way not commonly found, and it does so rather effectively." (Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, September 05, 2010)

Through a fusion of philosophical, social scientific, and historical methods, A Brief History of Liberty provides a comprehensive, philosophically-informed portrait of the elusive nature of one of our most cherished ideals.

• Offers a succinct yet thorough survey of personal freedom
• Explores the true meaning of liberty, drawing philosophical lessons about liberty from history
• Considers the writings of key historical figures from Socrates and Erasmus to Hobbes, Locke, Marx, and Adam Smith
• Combines philosophical rigor with social scientific analysis
• Argues that liberty refers to a range of related but specific ideas rather than limiting the concept to one definition

Acknowledgments vii

Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]