The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other Essays by Auberon Herbert [Paperback]

Auberon Herbert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1978

Auberon Herbert (1838–1906) is an eloquent, forceful, and uncompromising defender of liberty—indeed, in the judgment of Richard M. Ebeling he is "one of the most important and articulate advocates of liberty in the last two hundred years." Herbert was a major participant in the profound and wide-ranging intellectual ferment of the late Victorian age. He formulated a system of "thorough" individualism that he described as "voluntaryism." To Herbert, "you will not make people wiser and better by taking liberty of action from them. A man can learn only when he is free to act." As Eric Mack writes, "Carrying natural rights theory to its logical limits, Herbert demanded complete social and economic freedom for all noncoercive individuals and the radical restriction of the use of force to the role of protecting those freedoms—including the freedom of peaceful persons to withhold support from any or all state activities." There are ten essays.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Auberon Herbert

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 426 pages
• Publisher: Liberty Fund / Liberty Classics / Liberty Press (December 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0913966428
• ISBN-13: 978-0913966426
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,541,525 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Work, December 31, 1999

By 

eunomius (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State (Hardcover)

This volume is an essential collection of the profound works of Auberon Herbert, the fountainhead of "voluntaryism." Herbert took Herbert Spencer's famous law of equal freedom, and extended it to its full extent. As a result, Herbert concluded, as Ayn Rand, Murray Rothbard, et al, have since, that physical force is evil, and that the only legitimate, or at least, acceptable use of force is in defense. Moreover, Herbert concluded that it was illegitimate for *anyone* to utilize force, even government agents. Therefore, all forms of government intervention beyond the basic protection of individual rights is both illegitimate and immoral, including taxation. In fact, he even offers a 29 point case against all taxation in one particular piece. In place of coercive government, Herbert proposed defensive services financed voluntarily, and indeed, this is the only moral method. Throughout the work, one is consistently delighted by Herbert's firm and eloquent advocacy of individualism, rationality, responsibility, and progress. Admirers of Ayn Rand and Objectivism should especially enjoy this work. Above all, Herbert's writings are delightful and often deeply moving pieces of work, and I can only hope that friends of liberty and reason become more acquanted with them in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liberty, Frankness and Truth, April 7, 2008

By 

Odd Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other Essays by Auberon Herbert (Paperback)

Essentially this book is a must read for any believer in freedom. Not your Hindu/Buddhist freedom from attachment but rather the freedom all individuals have (should. in most or all cases) over their faculties and the products of there faculties, obviously so long as this freedom is respected in all other individuals.

As for this books merits, they are so plentiful that it would be easier to discuss it's faults.

However I'll leave that for another person more critical than myself as I hold to the belief that every person would benefit greatly from one reading of this fine work so I have no wish to detract from it.

It's your choice and thats the point.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gospel for Freedom, March 23, 2001

By 

J. Parker (Ocean Shores, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other Essays by Auberon Herbert (Paperback)

This book of essays had an effect upon me similar to that of the New Testament. It changed my outlook forever. (By the way, a total change of outlook is the actual meaning of the word 'repent'.)