Political philosophy is dominated by a myth, the myth of the necessity of the state. The state is considered necessary for the provision of many things, but primarily for peace and security. In this provocative book, Gerard Casey argues that social order can be spontaneously generated, that such spontaneous order is the norm in human society and that deviations from the ordered norms can be dealt with without recourse to the coercive power of the state. Casey presents a novel perspective on political philosophy, arguing against the conventional political philosophy pieties and defending a specific political position, which he identifies as 'libertarian anarchy'. The book includes a history of the concept of anarchy, an examination of the possibility of anarchic societies and an articulation of the nature of law and order within such societies. Casey presents his specific form of anarchy, undergirded by a theory of human action that prioritises liberty, as a philosophically and politically viable alternative to the standard positions in political theory.

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Gerard Casey

Continuum International Publishing Group, Incorporated

Continuum International Publishing Group, Limited

Bloomsbury Academic & Professional

United States, United States of America

Think now, London, England, 2012

1, 2012

producers:
Acrobat Distiller 7.0 (Windows)

Memory of the World Librarian: Slowrotation

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Cover 1
Halftitle 2
Series page 3
Title page 4
Copyright 5
Contents 6
Acknowledgements 9
1 Introduction 12
The criminal state 12
Libertarianism and anarchism – an overview 16
Roadmap 19
2 Death and taxes 22
The state – necessary and legitimate? 22
The origin and character of the state 25
The legitimacy of the state 34
‘But surely! . . .’ A preliminary sketch of the argument 40
State and society 45
3 Liberty and libertarianism 48
The non-aggression principle 49
Reciprocity 54
Aggression is not merely harm 58
Getting serious 59
Libertarianism and conservatism 62
Is libertarianism utopian? 67
4 Anarchy and anarchism 71
A matter of defi nition 71
Property 76
Some preliminary criticisms of anarchy 83
5 Law without orders 94
Where does law come from? 95
The conditions for the emergence of law 96
The context for the emergence of law 99
Customary law 104
Natural law 109
It simply would not work 113
The Eskimo 114
Early Irish society 116
The Somalis 118
Characteristics of customary legal systems 122
Anarchy today 124
6 Delegitimizing the state 128
Making the world safe from democracy 130
‘We’re on a mission from God!’ 132
Democracy and representation 133
What is it to represent? 135
In what way are political representatives representative ? 136
What are constitutions? Where do they come from? 139
Are constitutions contracts? 140
Constitutions as explicit contracts 142
Constitutions as implicit contracts 145
Constitutions are not contracts 151
7 Conclusion 157
Notes 161
Bibliography 186
Index 200

Political philosophy is dominated by a myth, the myth of the necessity of the state. The state is considered necessary for the provision of many things, but primarily for peace and security. In this provocative book, Gerard Casey argues that social order can be spontaneously generated, that such spontaneous order is the norm in human society and that deviations from the ordered norms can be dealt with without recourse to the coercive power of the state. a Casey presents a novel perspective on political philosophy, arguing against the conventional political philosophy pieties and defending a specific political position, which he identifies as 'libertarian anarchy'. The book includes a history of the concept of anarchy, an examination of the possibility of anarchic societies and an articulation ofathe nature of law and order within such societies. Casey presents his specific form of anarchy, undergirded by a theory of human action that prioritises liberty, as a philosophically and politically viable alternative to the standard positions in political theory

2024-06-27