Anarchy, state, and utopia

by Robert Nozick

367 pages

English language

Published Jan. 24, 1974 by Basic Books.

(8 reviews)

Anarchy, State, and Utopia is a 1974 book by the American political philosopher Robert Nozick. It won the 1975 US National Book Award in category Philosophy and Religion, has been translated into 11 languages, and was named one of the "100 most influential books since the war" (1945–1995) by the UK Times Literary Supplement.In opposition to A Theory of Justice (1971) by John Rawls, and in debate with Michael Walzer, Nozick argues in favor of a minimal state, "limited to the narrow functions of protection against force, theft, fraud, enforcement of contracts, and so on." When a state takes on more responsibilities than these, Nozick argues, rights will be violated. To support the idea of the minimal state, Nozick presents an argument that illustrates how the minimalist state arises naturally from anarchy and how any expansion of state power past this minimalist threshold is unjustified.

17 editions

J.A. Pipes reviewed Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick

Review of 'Anarchy, State, and Utopia' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

First, this is a scholarly work and the writing is dense, so if you're going to tackle this one, be prepared to take notes (also, there are 35 pages of Bibliography and end notes, which may lead you to other books). Second, it was really interesting to find the source of so many common anarchist ideas of today in this book from 1974. As an anarchist myself for the last 25 years, I never really understood where some of these ideas came from. Lastly, it's a shame that Robert Nozick is no longer with us, because I bet he was a great guy to sit down and have a beer with.