Robert Nozick
American philosopher (1938 to 2002) of the minimal state and the experience machine.
At a glance
Main ideas
The minimal state, Entitlement theory, Wilt Chamberlain …
See all 6Second thoughts
"Seriously inadequate", Still a libertarian in a broad sense
See all 2Books to start with
Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Philosophical Explanations, The Examined Life …
See all 5Connections
Friedrich Hayek and Anarchy, State, and Utopia
See all 2
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Nozick was a Harvard philosopher best known for Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), a libertarian answer to John Rawls.
- He argued that only a minimal state limited to protection against force, theft and fraud can be justified.
- A distribution is just, on his entitlement theory, if it arose from just acquisition and free transfer.
- He also proposed a counterfactual tracking theory of knowledge.
- In later books he called his earlier political philosophy seriously inadequate.
Why it matters
- His book is the canonical philosophical statement of libertarianism, and his thought experiments, such as the experience machine, are still taught everywhere.
Key facts
- Born
- 16 Nov 1938, Brooklyn, New York1
- Died
- 23 Jan 2002, after a long illness with stomach cancer1
- Education
- AB, Columbia (1959, summa cum laude); PhD, Princeton (1963) under Carl Hempel; Fulbright Scholar at Oxford from 1963 to 19641
- Position
- Joseph Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard; president of the American Philosophical Association1
- Awards
- National Book Award for Anarchy, State, and Utopia; Ralph Waldo Emerson Award for Philosophical Explanations1
Main ideas
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The minimal state1
Any state beyond protection against force, fraud and theft, and running courts, violates individual rights.
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Entitlement theory1
A distribution is just if it came about by free exchange from a just starting point, however unequal the result.
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Wilt Chamberlain1
Fans freely paying to watch one player show that patterned distributions are upset by liberty.
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Experience machine1
We would not plug into a machine giving any experience we want, so pleasure is not all that matters.
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Utility monster1
A being that gains more from every resource shows how utilitarianism could sacrifice everyone else.
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Tracking theory of knowledge1
To know P, you must believe P, and you would not believe it if P were false.
Second thoughts
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"Seriously inadequate"1
In The Examined Life (1989) he said his earlier political philosophy now seemed seriously inadequate, and proposed an inheritance tax.
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Still a libertarian in a broad sense1
Julian Sanchez, who interviewed him shortly before his death, said he always thought of himself that way.
Books to start with
The line under a date fills as it gets older: empty when new, full at 2 years.
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The minimal state and entitlement theory, in reply to Rawls.
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Philosophical Explanations1
Knowledge, free will, personal identity and the meaning of life.
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The Examined Life1
Essays for a general audience on love, death, faith and reality.
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The Nature of Rationality1
Decision theory, Newcomb's problem and symbolic utility.
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Invariances1
Objectivity as what stays invariant under transformations.
Connections
Links
Sources
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