Anarchy, State and Utopia

This appeared in 1974, work Anarchy, State and Utopia ( German: Anarchy, State and Utopia, 1976) is a libertarian counter-proposal by Robert Nozick to the egalitarian theory of justice of John Rawls. Both works together are regarded as decisive impetus to the revitalization of political philosophy in the 20th century.

Overview

Anarchy, State and Utopia is divided according to the three eponymous topoi.

In the first part represents Nozick why he bases his study on the state of nature, the Locke puts his considerations. Then he shows how in such purely based on voluntary agreements society system, a state-like entity in the form of a dominant protection agency (dominant protection agency ) is emerging without ( thereby ) the natural rights of individuals would be violated. He discussed the powers of this agency would grow in its natural state.

In the second part he checked his conclusions from the first part and refers to the dominant protection agency as a minimal state. He then discussed a number of the modern state ascribed tasks, in particular redistribution actions to social justice, to their moral legitimacy. As a result, he keeps all in excess of the minimal state government illegitimate activities, especially any form of social justice.

In the third part Nozick describes his utopia, which he referred to as " frame scaffold for utopias " ( framework for utopia ). Thus, different companies will compete as voluntary associations with each other for different models of coexistence. He puts in this context ( and so far from him still ) unsolved problems is that arising from the fact that individuals (eg children ) voluntary decision on the membership of a group is not possible. Nozick's utopia modeled on federal structures that have their model in the time of the founding fathers in the United States.

Work

• Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Basic Books, New York 1974. Anarchy state utopia. Translator's Hermann Vetter. Modern Publishing Company, Munich, 1976 ( reprint: Olzog, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-7892-8098-4 )