account_balance Political Philosophy
Study of government, justice, and political systems
format_quote Quotes
"The model of European identity is not exclusive but inclusive. Europe is defined not by what it excludes but by what it is capable of integrating. Its capacity to welcome the foreign without ceasing to be itself is what constitutes its originality."
menu_book Eccentric Culture: A Theory of Western Civilization
View Full Quote"Tyrants have never ceased to display great mutual friendship, because they know very well that they themselves spread the seeds of discord, and that the people who bear the burden of their yoke are in a state of mind to be easily stirred up. Good men love each other, and tyrants can only fear one another."
menu_book Discourse on Voluntary Servitude
View Full Quote"The first reason why men serve willingly is that they are born serfs and are reared as such. From this there follows another result, namely that people easily become cowardly and submissive under tyrants. For the people, being numbed and having been made sleepy, are little by little lulled into insensibility, and accustomed to the idea of serving."
menu_book Discourse on Voluntary Servitude
View Full Quote"What difference does it make whether a man is despoiled of his fortune openly and by force, or secretly, by stealth — whether through a bandit on the road or through a prince who debases the currency by which all things are measured?"
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"The prince is not the owner of the private property of his subjects. To impose new taxes or to increase old ones without the consent of the people is an act of tyranny, contrary to natural law and destructive of the commonwealth."
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"When a prince seizes sovereign power by force and arms without any legal title, without popular consent, and without the approval of the better part of the commonwealth, he may be killed by any man whatsoever — for he is a public enemy who has broken the bond that holds human society together."
menu_book De Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
View Full Quote"The pattern is: (1) The anointed assert that there is some grave danger or crisis. (2) The anointed propose some course of action to deal with it. (3) Evidence that the proposed course of action has made things worse is either ignored or explained away. (4) The anointed proceed as if the policy were working, blaming any remaining problems on the inadequacy of commitment to the policy."
menu_book The Vision of the Anointed
View Full Quote"The vision of the anointed is not simply a vision of the world and its functioning in descriptive terms, but is also a vision of themselves and of their place in the world. Self-congratulation is part of that vision, as is a disdain for the benighted masses who do not share it."
menu_book The Vision of the Anointed
View Full Quote"The constrained vision sees the evils of the world as deriving from the limited and biased nature of man himself — and therefore sees the social challenge as being to make the best of the possibilities which exist within that constraint, rather than to try to change human nature."
menu_book A Conflict of Visions
View Full QuoteView Full Quote"There are no solutions. There are only trade-offs. And you try to get the best trade-off you can get. That's all you can hope for."
"In the unconstrained vision, human nature is not fixed but is capable of being changed by social institutions and social policies. If human beings are capable of improvement — even of perfection — then the question of how to design the best society, with the best social institutions, is a much more open-ended question than if human nature is treated as a given constraint."
menu_book A Conflict of Visions
View Full QuoteView Full Quote"Mohammed brought down from heaven and put into the Koran not only religious doctrines but political maxims, criminal and civil laws, and scientific theories."
"Not every kind or degree of wrong is sufficient justification for war. The degree of the punishment must be in proportion to the degree of the fault."
menu_book De Indis (On the Indians)
View Full Quote"The whole world, which is in a sense a single republic, has the power to enact laws that are just and convenient for all persons, such as are the rules of the law of nations."
menu_book De Indis (On the Indians)
View Full Quoteauto_stories Books
A Conflict of Visions
Sowell's landmark 1987 work arguing that the deepest divide in political and social thought is not between left and right, but between two fundamen...
Read MoreAnarchy, State, and Utopia
Influential defense of libertarian political philosophy arguing for the minimal state limited to protection against force, theft, and fraud, and ex...
Read MoreAnatomy of the State
Concise treatise analyzing the nature and origins of the state, arguing that the state is fundamentally an organization based on aggression rather ...
Read MoreThe Constitution of Liberty
A comprehensive treatise on the principles of a free society, exploring the nature of freedom, the rule of law, and the conditions necessary for in...
Read MoreDe Indis (On the Indians)
Francisco de Vitoria's landmark 1532 lecture at the University of Salamanca, laying the groundwork for international law and natural rights theory....
Read MoreDe Rege et Regis Institutione (On the King and the Royal Institution)
Juan de Mariana's major work of political theory, published in 1599. Mariana argues that political power originates in the community and is held in...
Read MoreDemocracy: The God That Failed
Controversial critique of democracy from a libertarian perspective, arguing that monarchy is economically and ethically superior to democracy, and ...
Read MoreDiscourse on Voluntary Servitude
Written around 1549 by the young French magistrate Étienne de La Boétie and first published posthumously in 1576, this founding text of libertarian...
Read MoreEccentric Culture: A Theory of Western Civilization
Brague's foundational work arguing that European culture is fundamentally "eccentric" — it has always received its cultural substance from outside ...
Read MoreThe Open Society and Its Enemies
A defence of liberal democracy against totalitarian ideologies, arguing that no one possesses ultimate truth and that society must remain open to c...
Read MorePrinciples of Politics Applicable to All Governments
Major work on political philosophy distinguishing between ancient and modern liberty, arguing for constitutional limits on government power and ind...
Read MoreThe Spirit of the Laws
Influential treatise on political theory developing the concept of separation of powers and examining how laws should reflect the nature of governm...
Read MoreThe Vision of the Anointed
The 1995 sequel to *A Conflict of Visions*, focusing specifically on the unconstrained vision as held by a self-appointed intellectual elite — 'the...
Read MoreTwo Treatises of Government
Foundational work of liberal political philosophy establishing natural rights, the social contract, and the right to revolution against tyrannical ...
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