Liberalism with its chameleon like nature has spanned a long period of more than three hundred years. During this period it has undergone a lot of changes, right from the Natural rights liberalism of Locke to the libertarianism of Robert Nozick.
Arising as a reaction against the social welfare and collectivist state, libertarianism means freewill or free advocacy of liberty. The libertarians oppose all forms of interference with individual rights, and for them the state is the main source of such interference, hence they want to clip its wings.
Libertarianism received a new intellectual impetus by the publication of Robert Nozick's path breaking book 'Anarchy, State and Utopia' (1974) in the preface of which he mentions 'A minimal state, limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts is justified.'
Liberty being the core value of libertarianism, the libertarians believe that it can be safeguarded only when the society has strong private property rights, a free market and minimal government.
In this book the author has tried to evaluate the political theory of Robert Nozick who, she maintains has revived the classical liberal ideology of John Locke.
Toeing the Lockean line, his argument also beings with individual rights, when he proclaims, "Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them".
Nozick's minimal state emerges, voluntarily from the Lockean state of nature, which he has revived in the very first chapter of 'Anarchy State and Utopia'. He maintains' ... this state of nature situation is the best anarchic situation one reasonably could hope for'.
Nozick has indeed made an immense contribution to political theory, and no student of political theory can shrug it off casually. |
