Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol

In the second subsection of Chapter 3, which we reviewed in our previous post, we saw two possible ways of operationalizing Nozick’s moral premise that individuals have rights. Either we could make it our overall goal to minimize the violation … Continue reading →

In the first subsection of Chapter 3, which we reviewed in our previous post, Nozick drew a distinction between two types of libertarian government–minimal states and ultraminimal states–and identified a foundational moral problem with each type of state. Here, we … Continue reading →

Nozick begins Chapter 3 (pp. 26-28) by drawing a distinction between two types of libertarian government (see image below): a “soft core” libertarian minimal state that protects all its citizens against harm and a “hard core” libertarian ultra-minimal state that … Continue reading →

We will begin our review of Chapter 3 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia later today or tomorrow. Before proceeding, however, let’s take a closer look at Chapter 3’s overall structure and organization. In brief, Chapter 3 is titled “Moral Constraints … Continue reading →

Nozick concludes Chapter 2 (pp. 22-25) of Anarchy, State, and Utopia with a hybrid definitional-theoretical question: Is the dominant protection association a state? That is, does the postulated dominant protective association (postulated by Nozick) rise to level of a minimal … Continue reading →

In this post, we continue with our review of Anarchy, State, and Utopia (ASU). We have already reviewed Chapter 1 and the first three subsections of Chapter 2, so let’s just re-grab this philosophical bull by the horns and pick … Continue reading →

As a public service announcement, below is a listing of some science-related Twitter accounts:

Today is our last day of classes, and we will be flying out to Austin, TX this afternoon to attend a teaching workshop. Our review of Chapter 2 of Nozick’s classic work Anarchy, State, and Utopia will resume on Monday, … Continue reading →