First published in 1982, The Ethics of Liberty is a masterpiece of argumentation, and shockingly radical in its conclusions. Rothbard says that the very existence of the state--the entity with a monopoly privilege to invade private property--is contrary to the ethics of liberty. A society without a state is not only viable; it is the only one consistent with natural rights.

When it first appeared, the book was ignored by the scholarly world. Robert Nozick's treatise, taking a much softer view, was heralded instead. Nozick has since moved on to social democracy. Meanwhile, Rothbard's primary philosophical work went out of print and then virtually disappeared. Foreign-language editions have appeared, but the English version was unavailable.

But times have changed. For believers in liberty, Rothbard is an invaluable intellectual asset. At last, his most rigorous argument is available again, and in the stirring prose he is famous for.

In this volume, Rothbard first familiarizes the reader with Natural Law theory. After this ethical introduction, he goes on to address numerous ethical issues, showing how liberty is in the right in every case. In the final two sections, Rothbard enumerates the state's role in society as inherently anti-liberty, and details the structure of alternate theories of liberty.

357 pp, with new index
ISBN 0-8147-7559-4
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"let us imagine a murder victim who has no heir or whose legacy is repudiated. Is his death to go unpunished? And what if the heir is the murderer? I'm sure that Rothbard had a answer for that, but it is not in this book."

Well, Rothbard is no omniscient, nor is anyone else; furthermore, he can't answer every possible question in one book. In reality, no-one knows exactly how the free market would provide various services in the absence of any form of a State, but Rothbard makes likely predictions. In the case that a victim has no heirs, it is presumed that anyone who was close to the victim would be able to demand justice in a private court, on his behalf. Furthermore, the victim's insurance policy against crime might mandate that, should he be murdered, the murderer be found; his lawyer would be responsible for making sure that happens after his death. Finally, all crimes must occur in place. Rothbard says that various streets and buildings would have private police, employed by the owners. It would be in the owners best interest to see that crimes committed on his or her property go punished, so as to discourage that.

Furthermore, another reviewer has remarked that it is possible to have a government of minimal function that does not inflate the money supply. This displays extreme ignorance of history, and naivete. That's exactly what our founding father's tried to do: and it was a failure from the start. The past 300 years have shown us that any government at all, no matter how small it starts, no matter the "constitutional restrictions", will grow and grow and grow until all liberty is crushed under the boot of tyranny. The very existence of a government, in and of itself, mandates that the non-aggression axiom be violated. For a government cannot possibly exist without taxes, and taxes are the initiation of aggression. What are taxes, but forcing indivudals to work 10-37.5% of the year for no compensation? And what is that, but slavery? Systematic, persistent, and regularized theft is slavery. Thus, it is impossible to adhere to libertarian principles and support any State.


Not for the Intellectually Timid   June 13, 1998
Scott A. Kjar (Duluth MN USA)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

I had the unique pleasure to be one of the typesetters on the 1998 edition of this book, and I must say that it was a POWERFUL book. Rothbard builds his entire world-view from some basic arguments, creating a step-by-step explanation for his positions. His initial exposition seems straight-forward, but when he starts applying his views to modern ethical questions, the weak of mind should exit. I found myself disagreeing with his positions, and then realizing that I could not disagree with his positions without disagreeing with his previous fundamental arguments--which I had already accepted. Rothbard's logic is powerful, and he is a master at its use. Anyone looking for an easy bed-time read is discouraged from this book. Anyone looking for a serious intellectual challenge--with the testicular fortitude to stand up to a world-class intellectual onslaught--may find this book to be a life-changer.


Must read for libertarians   May 2, 2008
J. Rivera (Sioux Falls, SD)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

The Rothbardian brand of libertarianism can be somewhat extreme, but if anyone could explain and sell every page of it well--it would be Murray Rothbard. Anyone interested in really breaking down libertarian philosophy, this is an excellent starting point. I do no recommend this book for people who aren't familiar with the philosophy though, this book can be a bit heavy and somewhat confusing for someone who doesn't have a good foundation of knowledge to work with.

Eventually though, and at one point or another--this books is a must read.


An Important Work Impossible To Ignore   February 28, 1999
William J. Murphy (St. Louis, MO)
19 out of 27 found this review helpful

This is a very powerful work to say the least. Rothbard pushes natural rights and the non-initiation of force arguments to the full extreme. Despite this, I still disagree with him on one major point; the necessity of government. Although the idea has only been lightly touched upon by theorists, government is possible without any initiation of force against the governed. In fact, it is this ideal government that is the only alternative to both anarchy and statism. Nevertheless, Rothbard keeps you on your toes at all times. It is impossible to challenge anarcho-capitalism without an indepth understanding of this book. Ultimately, the premises of this book are virtually irrefutable, it is only the conclusions that one may dispute.