The Cambridge Companion to Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia

This Companion presents a detailed assessment of Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia and analyses its contribution to political philosophy.

Ralf M. Bader (Edited by), John Meadowcroft (Edited by)

9780521120029, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 September 2011

332 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm, 0.48 kg

Robert Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) is recognised as a classic of modern political philosophy. Along with John Rawls's A Theory of Justice (1971), it is widely credited with breathing new life into the discipline in the second half of the twentieth century. This Companion presents a balanced and comprehensive assessment of Nozick's contribution to political philosophy. In engaging and accessible chapters, the contributors analyse Nozick's ideas from a variety of perspectives and explore neglected areas of the work such as his discussion of anarchism and his theory of utopia. Their detailed and illuminating picture of Anarchy, State, and Utopia, its impact and its enduring influence will be invaluable to students and scholars in both political philosophy and political theory.

Introduction Ralf M. Bader and John Meadowcroft
Part I. Morality: 1. Side constraints, Lockean individual rights, and the moral basis of libertarianism Richard Arneson
2. Are deontological constraints irrational? Michael Otsuka
3. What we learn from the experience machine Fred Feldman
Part II. Anarchy: 4. Nozickian arguments for the more-than-minimal state Eric Mack
5. Explanation, justification, and emergent properties - an essay on Nozickian metatheory Gerald Gaus
Part III. State: 6. The right to distribute David Schmidtz
7. Nozick's libertarian theory of justice Peter Vallentyne
8. Does Nozick have a theory of property rights? Barbara Fried
9. Nozick's critique of Rawls John Meadowcroft
Part IV. Utopia: 10. The framework for utopia Ralf M. Bader
11. E Pluribus Plurum - how to fail to get to utopia in spite of really trying Chandran Kukathas.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA], History of ideas [JFCX], Social & political philosophy [HPS], Western philosophy, from c 1900 - [HPCF]