Robert Nozick
Robert Nozick ( November 16, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York City; † January 23, 2002 in Cambridge ) was an American philosopher. He held the Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard University. His book Anarchy, State and Utopia was a libertarian answer to John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, published in 1971.
Work
With the 1974 published book Anarchy, State and Utopia Nozick libertarian positions established in the mainstream of political philosophy. He tries to establish a minimal state, which is limited to protect the natural rights of its citizens and their property. In this book he argues, inter alia, for the position that the distribution of goods is just if it is performed by means of free and consensual exchange between adults, even if large inequalities emerge through this process (and thus power imbalances ). In this argument, Nozick invokes the Kantian idea that people should be treated as rational beings.
He later distanced himself from the libertarian program and confessed to a republican- communitarian position.
Nozick made as an important representative of contemporary Anglo-American philosophy to make significant contributions to nearly all major areas of philosophy. In Philosophical Explanations Nozick presented new approaches to the concepts of knowledge, free will and value. Known to a wider audience - - The Examined Life examined love, death and faith.
He was awarded for his book Philosophical Explanations 1982 Ralph Waldo Emerson - Prize of Phi Beta Kappa Society.
Criticism
The U.S. philosopher Thomas Nagel criticizes that Nozick's libertarian theory have no real theoretical foundation, as they go out of it without further explanation, that individuals were among themselves.
The Indian economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen criticizes Nozick, that this completely disregards the social consequences of his libertarian philosophy. It could also lead to severe famine in perfect and fully respecting libertarian property rights, without implying the requirements of Nozick's theory would be violated. Although Nozick have the possibility of an exception in case of danger "serious moral disaster " provided; this passe but logically not really in Nozick's theory into it. In addition, negative effects in all possible degrees of severity are possible. Nozick's approach neglects important variables such as the utilitarian theories and is thus too one-sided.
The economist Nicholas Barr of the London School of Economics criticized that between so-called natural right - libertarians such as Nozick and the representatives of non- libertarian positions no scientific dialogue is possible because the natural right - libertarians represented a totally uncompromising position. However, this does not apply empirically arguing libertarians like Milton Friedman.
The economist Veit Bütterlin stated that the law Nozicksche absolute ownership would threaten the subsistenzrechtliche dimension of natural law. By Nozick expansion of natural law - after which man was the owner of his own person - to an absolute right to ownership of objects, right circumstances could arise which would in turn undermine the natural law thought.