Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good

by Richard A. Epstein

Book Overview

As government budgets come under political fire and free-market ideals spread, the legal and social principles of libertarian thought continue to grow in popularity and relevance. It is particularly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738200417
• ISBN13: 9780738200415
• Release Date: October 1998
• Publisher: Basic Books (AZ)
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Another gem by Richard Epstein

Richard Epstein (author of "Takings" & "Forbidden Grounds") offers up this collection of essays on why economic liberty works for the benefit of virtually everyone, while planned economies don't.Epstein is a brilliant logician and wordsmith who can draw even the most skeptical into his web of reason. He doesn't argue that free market liberalism is best because it is the most moral, but because it simply works the best.Here he delves into human nature, the motivation for increasing government authority (power & control) and the impetus for altruism. "Principles for a Free Society" is a powerfully persuasive argument in defense of economic liberty and against the expansion of the government.

A must for every civics class

Richard Epstein, a law professor at The University of Chicago, is more than a legal expert. He is a scholar and theorist presenting his distinctive libertarian interpretation of the appropriate role of government in a free society. In each chapter, Epstein discusses a principle of interest to him and to society. He reviews the balance between the need for personal liberty and common good. Overwhelmingly, he documents the history of our society as one where changing legal/societal standards have reduced personal liberties. To illustrate, he uses real examples such as Social Security, zoning, and organ transplants that show how the changes negatively affects peoples' lives.I was most intrigued by Epstein's reasoning in his writings about altruism. I must admit that I would fall into the pessimistic camp that believes that altruism is usually egoism/self-interest in disguise) As he notes in the introduction, the book is a collection of his thoughts and essays over his career. As a result, he does not really tie the thoughts together except for an introduction and epilogue, which emphasize the desire to return to a more laissez-faire society.

Very thought provoking

This book could be better organized than it is -- sometimes it seems Epstein wants to give us a complete, systematic statement of his life's work as a legal theorist, whereas at other times he seeems content to think of this book as a series of loosely related explorations or essays.The organizational problem explains why I can't give this five stars. But I can enthusiastically give it four. The critique of the positivistic jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart (pp. 50-54) puts more of value in five pages than many authors can put in a whole book!