Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime & FREE Returns

FREE delivery: Wednesday, May 5 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Details

Fastest delivery: Tomorrow
Order within 11 hrs and 8 mins Details

In Stock.
As an alternative, the Kindle eBook is available now and can be read on any device with the free Kindle app. Want to listen? Try Audible.

$$19.48 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Secure transaction

Ships from	Amazon.com
Sold by	Amazon.com

Details

Ships from

Amazon.com

Sold by

Amazon.com

Return policy: This item is returnable

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon or get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery: May 19 - 22 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Details

Fastest delivery: May 13 - 18

Used: Good | Details

Sold by BM Supply Co.

Fulfilled by Amazon

Share <Embed>

Other Sellers on Amazon

$13.25
+ $4.49 shipping

Sold by: kaybook

$15.49
+ $3.99 shipping

Sold by: BooksForBlessings

$22.89
+ Free Shipping

Sold by: Book Depository US

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 5 images

Follow the Author

Robert Nozick

Anarchy, State, and Utopia Paperback – November 12, 2013

by Robert Nozick (Author)

290 ratings

See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

eTextbook

"Please retry"

$14.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$249.98

$907.99

$213.08

Paperback

"Please retry"

$19.48

$13.25

$8.97

Audio CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$23.91

$19.91

$38.30

Enhance your purchase

In this brilliant and widely acclaimed book, winner of the 1975 National Book Award, Robert Nozick challenges the most commonly held political and social positions of our age -- liberal, socialist, and conservative.

Print length

400 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

November 12, 2013
Grade level

11 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

5.45 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0465051006
ISBN-13

978-0465051007
Lexile measure

1390L
See all details

Frequently bought together

Total price: $83.85

Buy the selected items together

This item:Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick Paperback $19.48
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00. Details
A Theory of Justice by John Rawls Paperback $35.24
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement by John Rawls Paperback $29.13
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping. Details

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

John Rawls
222
Paperback
$35.24
In Stock.
G. A. Cohen
108
Hardcover
$9.43
In Stock.
John Rawls
81
Paperback
$29.13
In Stock.
John Rawls
55
Paperback
$22.39
In Stock.
John Rawls
126
Paperback
$32.46
In Stock.
Robert Nozick
41
Paperback
$16.99
In Stock.

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

John Rawls
222
Paperback
$35.24
In Stock.
John Rawls
55
Paperback
$22.39
In Stock.
John Rawls
126
Paperback
$32.46
In Stock.
John Rawls
81
Paperback
$29.13
In Stock.
G. A. Cohen
108
Hardcover
$9.43
In Stock.
Joseph A. Schumpeter
165
Paperback
$9.19
In Stock.

Special offers and product promotions

Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now
Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account

Editorial Reviews

Review

"No contemporary philosopher possesses a more imaginative mind, broader interests, or greater dialectical abilities than Robert Nozick."―Harper's

"Complex, sophisticated and ingenious."―The Economist

"[Nozick's] powers of argument are profound, and his insights are at times staggering in their brilliance."―New Republic

"A major event in contemporary political philosophy...[Nozick] is always stimulating; an open-minded study of what he has to say could be a healthy tonic for romantic leftists."―Peter Singer, New York Review of Books

About the Author

Robert Nozick (1938-2002) was the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Philosophy at Harvard University. The author of numerous books including The Examined Life and Philosophical Explanations, Nozick was the recipient of the National Book Award for Anarchy, State, and Utopia.

Start reading Anarchy, State, and Utopia on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Product details

Publisher : Basic Books; Reprint edition (November 12, 2013)
Language : English
Paperback : 400 pages
ISBN-10 : 0465051006
ISBN-13 : 978-0465051007
Reading age : 13 years and up
Lexile measure : 1390L
Grade level : 11 and up
Item Weight : 14.2 ounces
Dimensions : 5.45 x 1.25 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #64,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #16 in Anarchism
- #24 in Libertarianism
- #85 in Political Freedom (Books)

Customer Reviews:
290 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		77%
4 star		13%
3 star		4%
2 star		3%
1 star		4%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Rishi Kumar

Best read in conjunction with John Rawls' "A Theory of ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2018

Verified Purchase

Best read in conjunction with John Rawls' "A Theory of Justice," Nozick's book is a classic of political thought. He advances a simple, elegant, and difficult-to-argue-with libertarianism, one that forms a foundation for libertarian thinking today. Whether or not you agree with him, this is essential reading for anyone trying to understand libertarian philosophy today.

26 people found this helpful

Helpful

Cliff Wells

Possibly the worst book on libertarianism not written by a socialist.

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

I'm usually loathe to criticize books I didn't finish, but this one will be an exception. I couldn't even get past chapter 2, as the arguments being forwarded were so terribly thought-out.

Nozick's writing style could be described as "breathless". This is almost certainly due to his chasing his desired conclusion down a series of slippery-slope fallacies at full speed. While he admits in the preface that he wasn't as critical with his own arguments as he would have wished, even that qualification cannot excuse the single-minded and muddy path he has trod.

Nozick immediately sets out to show, through a series of inductive leaps, how free-market "security forces" cannot function, first by creating overly-simplistic models of free market interactions and then showing how these grossly simplified models can't work in the real world. He starts with presuming that "security forces" must be judge, jury, and executioner and then comes to rather obvious conclusions based on that ridiculous premise. He takes for granted that people in a "state of nature" would be of such dubious sophistication that ideas like "separation of powers" would be outside their grasp, despite such separation being the natural state of a free market.

Of course, every problem he describes in the free market solution also exists in the state's monopolistic solution, but Nozick doesn't realize this because he fails to acknowledge the frequency with which the state is either the plaintiff or defendant in the cases it oversees. That is to say, Nozick's solution to problems with free market justice is to just implement those same problems in the form of a state, and call it solved because there's no higher authority to disagree.

I'd like to be more generous, but I simply can't. I had to re-read some Hoppe just to get the stench of this book out of my brain.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer

but it doesn't waste words and is concise in its arguments

Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

Very interesting read for anyone interested in a very logic-chain based political science/philosophy argument. Keep in mind that it's very dense and takes a very close read to grasp, but it doesn't waste words and is concise in its arguments. The classic read for a libertarian.

13 people found this helpful

Helpful

Darien Sumner

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2015

Verified Purchase

Nozick's work has long been regarded as a staple of political philosophy, and with good reason. His prose is engaging, and his logic compelling. Nozick is an excellent and insightful critic of the state; between just the two of them, his Wilt Chamberlain and Tale of a Slave illustrations roundly demolish pretty much all arguments for a central state, but he goes into far more depth as well.

The final section -- Utopia -- is rather interesting, as Nozick takes a somewhat eclectic viewpoint, arguing that utopia is the journey and not the destination. He spends little time on existing utopian theory, instead pointing out (rightly) the flaws common to virtually all of it, and then discussing an alternative way of considering the idea.

Where Nozick is weakest is his treatment of the alleged necessity of the minimal state; despite thinking he has answered the objections of individualist anarchists, he has at best dodged them. He finishes his treatment of the subject with an entire chapter full of silly utilitarianism, theorising about means of maximising total utils without ever explaining what a util is or how one could possibly measure it, and declares the matter settled. Yet never does he explain what mechanism actually makes it okay to put a gun to somebody's head and extract revenue; perhaps that makes the utils come out.

Overall, this is a highly engaging book, and a must-read for any serious student of political philosophy.

24 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jon Dewey

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2018

Verified Purchase

Important, even if, in the end, it is profoundly misguided.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Leo Heino

Profound analysis on the role of state

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

Excellent analysis on the morally appropriate organization of a state from many angles. The reasoning is complex at times and the narrative is not always easy to follow, but the conclusions are well thought out and compelling.

Definitely recommended for everyone interested in political philosophy no matter what your current opinions are on the subject. The book is not just presenting one “truth”, but explores a number of alternative views with a conclusion well grounded in the arguments presented. I don’t think you need to agree with the author’s conclusions, at least I enjoyed and was impressed by the quality of the argumentation as such.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mitchell

I don't agree with him on a lot of things ...

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

I don't agree with him on a lot of things. But he provides a really clear philosophical conception and defense of libertarianism.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jesse

Good points but hard to understand at times

Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

I haven't read a philosophy book in a while. Now I know why. The author raises some good points here and there but the writing itself is confusing af. Rife with run on sentences filled with sideline hypotheticals throughout, this book does not do the best job at stating its point clearly. The first 2 parts are rough but the 3rd part is more concise. All in all, thought provoking ideas.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

A Portuguse Person

Fun to read and think about

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2012

Verified Purchase

This is my first review so I'll try to make it short. Nozick's book is essentially divided into two interchangeable parts: 1) His story about how governments appear out of a stateless society; 2) His complementary considerations on political principles.

The first part is not that good - principled people who do not violate the rights of others create governments by an "Invisible hand process" - Remember that this must be compared with other philosophical theories regarding the appearance of government (Rawls' veil of ignorance or Dworkin's clamshells which are equally bad our even worse philosophical explanations).

The second part is more interesting and thought provoking. Nozick attacks the notion of redistributive justice, equality of opportunity and democracy itself. Even if you disagree with him it is important to examine and think about his arguments.

There are two ways you can interpret this book: If you believe the world to be a constant battle for ideological supremacy then this was clearly a victory for the "enemy", if on the other hand you like moral and political philosophy for its own sake than the book will surprise, shock and entertain you.

8 people found this helpful

montgomery

Present

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2020

Verified Purchase

Given as present

carl edward bradhsaw

well written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2020

Verified Purchase

well written

defenderx100

Good condition

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

Arrived in good condition, looking forward to reading it over the summer

Sebastian Zvarik

Excellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2020

Verified Purchase

Excellent

See all reviews