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The Myth of Natural Rights Paperback – June, 1983

by L. A. Rollins (Author)
5 customer reviews
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Book by Rollins, L. A.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 50 pages
  • Publisher: Breakout Productions; 1st edition (June 1983)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1559500077
  • ISBN-13: 978-1559500074
  • Product Dimensions: 0.2 x 5.8 x 8.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,498,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
A LIBERTARIAN CRITIQUE OF "NATURAL LAW" AND "NATURAL RIGHTS"
By Steven H Propp TOP 100 REVIEWER on February 10, 2012
Format: Paperback
L.A. Rollins is a freelance writer who received his BA in Philosophy from CSU Los Angeles. He is also the author of Lucifer's Lexicon.

He begins this short 1983 book by saying, "One of the major political myths of the modern age has been the myth of 'natural rights,' the myth of rights with which human beings are supposedly endowed by nature... The myth of natural rights is an offspring of the related myth of 'natural law.'" (Pg. 1)

He argues that natural rights are "fake" or metaphorical rights, and the same with natural law. (Pg. 2) He contrasts these with "REAL rights," which are those rights "actually conferred and enforced by the laws of a State or the customs of a social group." (Pg. 2) By way of contrast, "natural rights are imaginary rights." (Pg. 3)

He rejects the Kantian notion of a categorical imperative, arguing that if there are no unconditional "musts" or "oughts," there are no "duties" or "moral obligations." To Rollins, "Morality is a device for controlling the gullible with words." More controversially, he suggests, "There are all sorts of reasons why I might refrain from committing murder even when I would like to do it. But murder is not 'wrong.'" (Pg. 8-9)

He also rejects Murray Rothbard's argument (in ...Read more ›
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16 of 23 people found the following review helpful
A rough-cut gem. Blunt, but valuable philosophical work.
By kevborg on November 29, 1997
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Brief, blunt, unafraid of expressing unpopular views. This Loompanics book is directed at smug libertarians in the introduction. However, it contains an exploration of what we mean by "rights" and of morality itself that is valuable for any would-be political/moral philosopher.

Rollins does not flinch before names such as Kant and Rand. He single-mindedly seeks justification for belief in rights granted us by nature or by our humanity. In the process, he entertainingly entertains the arguments of a handful of libertarian and other thinkers, rejecting each as a case of wishful thinking, flawed logic, or plain, unsupported claim-making. Confronted with moral arguments for "natural rights," Rollins, apparently brandishing Ockhams Laser (this is the 20th century), extends his skepticism to morality. Incredibly, unashamedly, he rejects traditional metaethics after he finds it just as lacking as natural rights theories. Common notions of "right' and "wrong" are dismissed along with it. Shocking? Yes. False? Rollins will want to know in what way.

Leave your philosophical preconceptions on your bedside table. Icon-worship this is not. Rollins knocks the caps off the Randian Objectivists early on and never looks back. No moralist, no moral theory is safe by the end of this appropriately black book. Not Utilitarians, not the Categorical Imperative, not your neighbor who says things always turn out for the best.

Rollins' book might be a bit too slim and flip, not to mention unbuttressed by credentials and respectability, to win Best Philosophy Book of the Century. But, what it lacks in pomp and politeness, it repays with interest in honesty, piercing clarity, and, most of all, surprising integrity. Just as surprising, Rollins is probably a libertarian.Read more ›
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Great book-In bigger context Libertarian ideals are just as flawed as...
By Laura Tabor-huerta on October 29, 2014
Format: Paperback
A really good book that helps one to understand that in the bigger context Libertarian ideals are just as flawed as other philosophies and we have to be careful what we choose going forward.
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Natural rights obliterated
By Finnegan Von Kleinenschlaffel on September 12, 2014
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
Murray Rothbard obliterated the arguments for the state, using strong reason on both the economic and ethical sides. And in this work, LA Rollins -- in a trenchant style reminiscent of ol' Murray, who is righteously roasted within -- absolutely obliterates the arguments for natural rights. He does it so smoothly, slickly, and logically that it is absolutely obscene that anyone with a modicum of reason today -- libertarian or not -- could still buy into the notion of natural rights.

David Gordon, normally a pretty decent writer and thinker from the Mises world, has a piece in the Murray Rothbard festschrift 'Man Economy and Liberty' which critiques Rollins' work here. The piece is unbelievably weak and only has one half-way decent critique with the rest of his rebuttals breaking down before even leaving the driveway. James E. Miller also attempts (fails) to rebut some of Rollins' points in a recent piece critiquing Trevor Blake's egoism.

Absolutely recommended. And for realzies I need a copy of the book that has Rollins' other essaies - I cannot find it anywhere!
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5 of 10 people found the following review helpful
AMORALISM WITHOUT ILLOGIC
By A Customer on March 13, 1999
Format: Paperback
In just 42 pages, this book goes a long way toward refuting moralism without relying on self-contradictory relativism. I happen to agree with about 90% of this text. The flaw here is Rollins' implication that natural rights do not exist because they have no physical effectivity. Lack of physical effectivity is not a sufficient argument against something's existence. However, the rest of the debunking is pretty hard hitting.
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