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Nozick begins the eighth section of Chapter 8 of ASU (pp. 265-268) by making a strong case in favor of compulsory redistribution! (Yes, you heard that right. Again, I will summarize Nozick’s argument in my own words.) Let’s assume that … Continue reading →

Nozick takes a short detour in the seventh section of Chapter 8 of ASU (pp. 262-265), where he makes a conjecture about the structure of rights to engage in relationships with others. At one point, Nozick states (p. 264): “Rights … Continue reading →

Nozick accomplishes two tasks in the sixth subsection of Chapter 8 (pp. 253-262). First, he explains why so few business firms are owned or run by workers. But more importantly, he single-handedly demolishes Marxian economic theory. As usual, I will … Continue reading →

Nozick poses a pair of related questions in the next two subsections of Chapter 8 of ASU (pp. 246-253) regarding the organization of business firms. One question is, How could we incentivize business firm to provide more opportunities for meaningful … Continue reading →

We interrupt our review of Chapter 8 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia to share this fun tweet with our loyal readers. (For my part, I was 11 months old at the time, so I was probably asleep during that historic … Continue reading →

Nozick explores a number of intriguing questions in the third subsection of Chapter 8 of ASU (pp. 239-246). Why do people feel envy? What is the source of this emotion? And what is the best way of reducing the incidence … Continue reading →

Nozick devotes the next subsection of Chapter 8 (pp. 235-238) to attacking the concept of equality of opportunity. But before we proceed any further, I must make a confession. Although I agree 99% with Nozick’s criticism of equality of outcomes, … Continue reading →

Nozick begins Chapter 8 by addressing the issue of income inequality and by pointing out an embarrassing gap in the scholarly and popular literature on this subject. According to Nozick, scholars who defend equality as a desirable normative goal are … Continue reading →

After defending his entitlement theory of justice and engaging in intellectual combat with John Rawls in Chapter 7 of Anarchy, State, and Utopia (ASU), Nozick will explore other theories of equality in Chapter 8. But before we jump into this … Continue reading →

We will proceed with Chapter 8 of ASU on Monday. In the meantime: