Principles For A Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With The Common Good [Hardcover]

Richard A. Epstein (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0738200417 | ISBN-13: 978-0738200415 | Publication Date: October 18, 1998 | Edition: First Edition first Printing

As government budgets come under political fire and free-market ideals spread, the legal and social principles of libertarian thought continue to grow in popularity and relevance. It is particularly timely, then, that Richard Epstein, one of our country’s most distinguished legal scholars, here sets out an authoritative set of principles that explains both the uses and the limits of government power. Blending his deep knowledge of classical political theory and legal history with modern economic thought, he considers a wealth of timely topics: the use of norms and customs in setting legal rules; the appropriate spheres for both private and common property for such diverse resources as water and telecommunications; the dark side of altruism in driving collective behavior; and the relative merits of public and private assistance to the poor. Drawing on the work of multiple disciplines, Principles for a Free Society offers a thoroughly realized blueprint to guide us through political conflict in the troubled times ahead.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The term common good makes libertarians cringe, because they view it as a catch-all excuse for governments to increase the power of the state. America's foremost libertarian legal mind, Richard Epstein, addresses these worries, acknowledging a tension between personal freedom and social goals, while suggesting that they can be mutually reinforcing: "Laissez-faire is best understood not as an effort to glorify the individual at the expense of society, but as the embodiment of principles that, when consistently applied, will work to the advantage of all (or almost all) members of society simultaneously."

Epstein is a powerful reasoner, and even skeptical readers will find themselves slowly drawn down a libertarian path. Principles for a Free Society contains a storehouse of detailed information about human nature and the motives of state authority. Epstein deserves a place on the bookshelf beside Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

A truism of academe is when faced with a dilemma, make a distinction. Epstein, professor of law at the University of Chicago and author of Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Right to Health Care?, follows this advice in trying to reconcile individual liberty and the common good. In lucid, readable prose he argues that the two are compatible, provided that certain distinctions and qualifications are made. Epstein spends considerable time explicating the laissez-faire doctrine, insisting that it need not glorify the individual at the expense of society: when applied pragmatically rather than dogmatically, it maximizes the welfare of all. Epstein realizes, of course, that the Achilles heel of the free-market system is the inequitable distribution of wealth, but he believes that a "voluntary redistribution" will solve the problem, although "it will always leave some individuals short." Similarly, he says, it's "always painful to deny recovery for an individual in need" but we don't want a system that encourages self-destructive behavior. At this point one suspects that Epstein's book does not reconcile freedom and equality so much as champion laissez-faire capitalism with some limitations. One also wonders whether he shouldn't care more that Adam Smith's unseen hand can become the unseen foot, kicking those who are down.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; First Edition first Printing edition (October 18, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738200417
• ISBN-13: 978-0738200415
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another gem by Richard Epstein, August 28, 2002

By 

jmk444 (Staten Island, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Principles For A Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With The Common Good (Hardcover)

Richard Epstein (author of "Takings" & "Forbidden Grounds") offers up this collection of essays on why economic liberty works for the benefit of virtually everyone, while planned economies don't.

Epstein is a brilliant logician and wordsmith who can draw even the most skeptical into his web of reason. He doesn't argue that free market liberalism is best because it is the most moral, but because it simply works the best.

Here he delves into human nature, the motivation for increasing government authority (power & control) and the impetus for altruism. "Principles for a Free Society" is a powerfully persuasive argument in defense of economic liberty and against the expansion of the government.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very thought provoking, February 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Principles For A Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With The Common Good (Hardcover)

This book could be better organized than it is -- sometimes it seems Epstein wants to give us a complete, systematic statement of his life's work as a legal theorist, whereas at other times he seeems content to think of this book as a series of loosely related explorations or essays.

The organizational problem explains why I can't give this five stars. But I can enthusiastically give it four. The critique of the positivistic jurisprudence of H.L.A. Hart (pp. 50-54) puts more of value in five pages than many authors can put in a whole book!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every civics class, July 4, 2002

By 

G. Shiau "grumpychicagoguy" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Principles For A Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty With The Common Good (Hardcover)

Richard Epstein, a law professor at The University of Chicago, is more than a legal expert. He is a scholar and theorist presenting his distinctive libertarian interpretation of the appropriate role of government in a free society.

In each chapter, Epstein discusses a principle of interest to him and to society. He reviews the balance between the need for personal liberty and common good. Overwhelmingly, he documents the history of our society as one where changing legal/societal standards have reduced personal liberties. To illustrate, he uses real examples such as Social Security, zoning, and organ transplants that show how the changes negatively affects peoples' lives.

I was most intrigued by Epstein's reasoning in his writings about altruism. I must admit that I would fall into the pessimistic camp that believes that altruism is usually egoism/self-interest in disguise)

As he notes in the introduction, the book is a collection of his thoughts and essays over his career. As a result, he does not really tie the thoughts together except for an introduction and epilogue, which emphasize the desire to return to a more laissez-faire society.