Research Articles Adam Mossoff, Social Philosophy and Policy, FirstView Article.

Ayn Rand's political theory is based on the normative principles that man's life is the standard of value and that concern with his own life is man's primary moral purpose, and the metaphysical facts that reason is his basic tool of survival and that its exercise is volitional and requires the absence of coercion. This chapter first presents Rand's analysis of the nature of government. It then discusses why Rand holds that the proper purpose of government is the securing of (...) individual rights, and why it follows from that that capitalism is the only moral social system. In detailing Rand's defense of capitalism, the chapter also examines why she is an ardent proponent of property rights, and thus why property rights take a central place in her writings on politics. Finally, the chapter describes Rand's defense of intellectual property rights, which she views as core property rights. (shrink)

Anyone familiar with twentieth century legal philosophy will easily concede Michael Rosenfeld’s opening claim that “the practice of legal interpretation has been mired in a deep and persistent crisis”. The source of this crisis is the critical dissolution of the practice of law into mere politics, that is, the unfettered, Hobbesian quest for power within society. In response, legal philosophers have advanced various conceptions of law that are conceptually or normatively distinct from either amoral politics or controversial ethical norms. Rosenfeld’s (...) Just Interpretations provides the reader with a broad-ranging survey of the source and nature of the crisis at hand, and what he considers to be the best solution available to the pluralistic, democratic polity of our postmodern age—the substantive, normative principle of “comprehensive pluralism.”. (shrink)

As an Enlightenment philosopher and the father of liberalism, John Locke’s explication of the natural right to property, of limited government, and of the right to rebellion constitute fascinating ideas that are often treated by scholars as deserving of attention in and of themselves. This is not the case for Kristie McClure. McClure is more interested in the “architecture of order” and how this metaphysical and epistemological metaphor ultimately shapes and defines Locke’s political theory. From this perspective, McClure draws out (...) some interesting insights into the nature of Locke’s political philosophy. (shrink)

The most famous contemporary work advancing the principles of classical liberalism and libertarianism is Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia, published in 1974. Twenty-five years later on the opposite bank of the Charles River, Boston University law professor Randy E. Barnett now hopes to pick up the libertarian mantle with his first published book, The Structure of Liberty. Advancing what he simply calls “liberalism”, he offers fresh arguments for theories that many might have considered to have already received their preeminent (...) expression in Nozick’s earlier work. (shrink)