The state / Anthony de Jasay.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

De Jasay, Anthony, 1925-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

State, The.

Welfare state.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (337 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Indianapolis, Ind. : Liberty Fund, c1998.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"Strikingly original. . . . De Jasay offers the most compelling account of what is wrong and dangerous about the state.""--Alan Ryan"The State" is an idiosyncratic and brilliant analysis of modern political arrangements that views the state as acting in its own interest contrary to the interests of individuals and even of an entire society. As Nobel laureate James Buchanan has observed, Jasay subjects the state to a "solid, foundational analysis, grounded in an understanding of economic theory, informed by political philosophy and a deep sense of history." The results include a "devastating critique of the absurdities of modern welfare economics." Jasay traces the logical and historical progression of the state from a modest-sized protector of life and property through its development into what he believes to be an "agile seducer of democratic majorities, to the welfare-dispensing drudge that it is today." Can, Jasay wonders, this seemingly inexorable expansion of the state be stopped? Or, "Is the rational next step for the state] a totalitarian enhancement of its power?"Anthony de Jasay is an independent theorist living in France. Jasay "believes that philosophy should be mainly, if not exclusively, about clarifying conclusions that arise from the careless use of, or deliberate misuse of, language. There are echoes here of . . . Wittgenstein's later philosophy." His books, translated into a half dozen languages, include "Justice and Its Surroundings" and "Social Contract, Free Ride." source/credit line] I. M. D. Little in Ordered Anarchy, 2007

Contents:

""Anthony de Jasay, The State ""; ""Title Page ""; ""Copyright Details ""; ""Table of Contents""; ""Preface""; ""Author's Note""; ""The State ""; ""Introduction, p. 1 ""; ""1. The Capitalist State, p. 16 ""; ""Violence, Obedience, Preference, p. 16 ""; ""Title and Contract, p. 22 ""; ""The Contours of the Minimal State, p. 30 ""; ""If States Did Not Exist, Should They Be Invented?, p. 35 ""; ""Inventing the State: The Social Contract, p. 38 ""; ""Inventing the State: The Instrument of Class Rule, p. 52 ""; ""Closing the Loop by False Consciousness, p. 65 ""; ""2. The Adversary State, p. 73 ""

""Repression, Legitimacy and Consent, p. 73 """"Taking Sides, p. 85 ""; ""Tinker's License, p. 96 ""; ""The Revealed Preference of Governments, p. 103 ""; ""Interpersonal Justice, p. 112 ""; ""Unintended Effects of Producing Interpersonal Utility and Justice, p. 123""; ""3. Democratic Values, p. 131 ""; ""Liberalism and Democracy, p. 131 ""; ""Through Equality to Utility, p. 150 ""; ""How Justice Overrides Contracts, p. 160 ""; ""Egalitarianism as Prudence, p. 173 ""; ""Love of Symmetry, p. 186 ""; ""Envy, p. 198 ""; ""4. Redistribution, p. 205 ""; """"Fixed"" Constitutions, p. 205 ""

""Buying Consent, p. 214 """"Addictive Redistribution, p. 228 ""; ""Rising Prices, p. 249 ""; ""Churning, p. 254 ""; ""Towards a Theory of the State, p. 266 ""; ""5. State Capitalism, p. 274 ""; ""What Is To Be Done?, p. 274 ""; ""The State as Class, p. 290 ""; ""On the Plantation, p. 301 ""; ""Index""

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-61487-816-1

OCLC:

826659898