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Book Cover
E-book
Author Sartwell, Crispin, 1958-

Title Against the state : an introduction to anarchist political theory / Crispin Sartwell
Published Albany : State University of New York Press, ©2008

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Description 1 online resource (xi, 124 pages)
Contents Some definitions -- Social contract -- Utilitarian justifications of state power -- Justicial justifications of state power -- Silhouette of an anarchism
Summary "In Against the State, Crispin Sartwell unleashes a quick and brutal rejection of the traditional arguments for state legitimacy. Sartwell considers the classics of Western political philosophy - Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Hegel, Hume, Bentham, Rawls, and Habermas, among others - and argues that their positions are not only wrong but also embarrassingly bad. He separates the traditional pro-state arguments into three classes: social contract theories, utilitarian justifications, and justicial views, all while attacking both general strategies and particular formulations. Sartwell argues that the state rests on nothing but deadly force and its accompanying coercion, and that no one is under any obligation to obey the law merely because it is the law. He concludes by articulating a positive vision of an anarchist future, based on the "individualism" of such figures as Emerson and Thoreau. Against the State provides a rigorous and provocative foil to the classic texts, and also serves as a concise statement of the anarchist challenge."--Jacket
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 117-120) and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Anarchism.
anarchism.
POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Political Ideologies -- Anarchism.
Anarchism
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781435658738
1435658736