"For many decades, news reports on the intellectual activities of the younger generation have been confined almost exclusively to advocates of statism and collectivism. Only recently [in 1971] have there appeared the first acknowledgements, in the newspapers, of a rising interest among the younger generation in political philosophy that stands in radical contrast to this authoritarian trend: Libertarianism.

"Now, Professor John Hospers, [former] Director of the School of Philosophy of the University of Southern California, has given us, in the latest book, a clear statement of the central political-economic of this young intellectual movement. The book is offered, not as an original work of philosophy, but rather as an attempt to delineate the major positions on which most Libertarians would agree-and to answer many of the objections and questions with which Libertarians have to contend.

"Libertarianism is very simply and clearly written and requires no technical knowledge on the part of the reader. Enjoyable, informative reading."
-Nathaniel Branden, author of The Psychology of Self Esteem and The Disowned Self

"A most informative and provocative up-to-date exposition of an historic political-economic doctrine that has been having a rebirth, in a new and more sophisticated formulation, in recent years."
-Martin E. Lean, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Brooklyn College, of the City University of New York

"In days to come, when Libertarianism is accepted as one of the major political philosophies, and perhaps theprevailing one, Professor Hospers will be remembered as one of its founding fathers. His magnificent work offers a true intellectual foundation for all those who profess to be advocates of, or objective about, personal, political, and economic freedom."
-Robert D. Kephart, Publisher of Human Events

(Customer Rating for this product is 5 out of 5)
A classic on why Big Government is more harmful than necessary.
A reviewer (ewillers@Laissez-FaireRepublic.com), 10/26/2007

After more than 35 years the phenomenal classic on the American libertarian philosophy is now back in print and available to a new generation of readers interested in the free-market alternative to socialism and 'liberalism' in the United States. In the tradition of Bastiat, Hazlitt, von Mises, and Rand, Prof. Hospers dispatches one Big-Government cliché and fallacy after another in clear and understandable English. An important resource in the arsenal of liberty, this 2007 edition includes a new preface by the author. The book that launched a movement can inspire us all again in the struggle to recapture the spirit of American freedom under law.

Also recommended: The Incredible Bread Machine by R. W. Grant, Cliches of Liberalism by David Wilcox, The Law by Frederic Bastiat, Economics In One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt, Anything That's Peaceful by Leonard Read, Textbook of Americanism by Ayn Rand, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.