Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice (Hardback)
By Tom G. Palmer
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Written from his perspective as scholar, journalist, and activist, Tom Palmer’s incisive articles range in subject from the theory of justice, multiculturalism, and democracy, to limited government, globalization, property rights, censorship, individual liberty, and more.
Price: $29.95
Publication Date: June 2009
ISBN: 978-1-935308-11-9
Number of Pages: 532
Hardcover
(also available in
E-Book)
Categories: 2009 Titles, New Releases, Political Philosophy
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About the Book
For more than 25 years, Tom Palmer has lived his life according to a very simple ideal: Liberty is for everyone. Academics debate the finer points of political theory, but liberty belongs to us all, and everyone can benefit from it. Realizing Freedom is a testament to that ideal.
A tireless educator, Palmer has traveled the world to bring the message of freedom to people on every continent. At home, he’s been an incisive commentator on current affairs as well as an original thinker in political philosophy. The essays in this volume are drawn from two and a half decades of work, and they reflect the many levels on which Palmer has promoted individual liberty.
In section I, “Theory,” Palmer addresses the nature of freedom, law, rights, and justice; the morality of markets; and the institutional frameworks of free societies. The essays in this section come from both academic and popular sources and address a wide variety of arguments for and against free markets, personal responsibility, individual liberty, and the rule of law. He considers and criticizes the arguments of political theorists such as John Rawls and G. A. Cohen, as well as popular “myths of individualism,” which he concisely refutes.
In section II, “History,” Palmer considers the long tradition of classical liberalism and how it relates to struggles for liberty today. The classical liberal movement has again and again returned to its historical roots, and many of its greatest exponents have been historians. Palmer shows himself to be no exception.
Section III, “Practice,” takes on current events and concerns, from multiculturalism to struggles for free speech to the war in Iraq. And section IV, “Books and Ideas,” includes critical reviews of various important books, as well as the not-to-be-missed essay “The Literature of Liberty.” Students looking for a guide to classical liberal thought will benefit from this extensive and well-considered essay, compiled by a leading authority in the field.
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About the Author
TOM G. PALMER is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, the vice president for International Programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and the general director of the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity. He received his doctorate in politics from Oxford University.
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What Others Have Said
"Tom Palmer has the ability to make the complex understandable and to go to the heart of the most difficult problems. He is a valuable resource for journalists and others in search of historical and economic scholarship and philosophical insight, especially about the impact of government intervention and the reasons for respecting the freedom and responsibility of individuals."
—JOHN STOSSEL
ABC News
"The libertarian conception of individual autonomy is often attacked as fostering narrow and selfish individuals who take scant notice of the larger world around them. Tom Palmer’s great contribution in this collection of essays is to lay those misconceptions to rest. He shows how autonomous individuals use their powers to promote exchange and cooperation, which enrich all facets of social life. He exposes the cultural imperialists whose high-falutin’ rhetoric is all too often the prescription for economic protectionism and social stagnation. He reminds us yet again that individual liberty is our most precious social good."
—RICHARD A. EPSTEIN
James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago; author, Simple Rules for a Complex World
"Much of this book is devoted to lively defenses of classical liberal and libertarian rights theory against critics and false friends of many sorts. Even more interesting than these sharp rejoinders, though, is Palmer's reframing and recharacterization of that rights theory. Drawing on his extraordinary interdisciplinary learning, Palmer offers a sociologically, institutionally, and historically informed libertarianism--one that is true to the rich legacy and tradition of classical liberalism."
—JACOB T. LEVY
Tomlinson Professor of Political Theory, McGill University; author, The Multiculturalism of Fear
"Tom Palmer has been one of liberty's most eloquent and learned spokespersons for many years. It is a joy to have so many of his lucid, readable, and trenchant essays, written over most of those years, between one set of covers. The essays are independent of each other, enough so that you can sit down and read one here, one there, without needing to know also the hundred or two hundred pages in between. Whatever sort of essay you pick, I guarantee you a good read."
—JAN NARVESON
University of Waterloo; author, You and the State: A Short Introduction to Political Philosophy and The Libertarian Idea
"Tom Palmer has been long involved in fighting the battle of ideas; in confronting collectivism, extensive government intervention, and the suppression of human freedom and economic prosperity. This book should be read by all who care about freedom. It is important to remind each generation that freedom can never be taken for granted. Collectivist, anti-libertarian ideologies did not cease to exist at the moment the Iron Curtain fell."
—VACLAV KLAUS
President of the Czech Republic
"Realizing Freedom is thoughtful, thought-provoking, articulate, insightful, occasionally iconoclastic, and a simply fascinating read from beginning to end."
—THE MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
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