Author(s): Sergio Morresi
Journal: DoisPontos
ISSN 1807-3883
Volume: 7;
Issue: 4;
Start page: 11;
Date: 2010;
Original page
Keywords: John Locke | Robert Nozick | Liberalism | Public Good | Politics
ABSTRACT
In 1974, Robert Nozick published *Anarchy, State and Utopia*, a workthat granted theoretical status to one of the streams of the neoliberal thought: libertarianism. Nozick’s text claims to be a reinterpretation of John Locke’s political theory in terms of analytical philosophy. This article argues that, althoughthe Nozick’s perspective presents certain rhetorical similarities with the work of the English philosopher, in each one of the fundamental points (such as the idea of right, the notion of personhood, the role of politics, and the concepts of justice and the public good) Nozick separates himself clearly from the Lockean premises. This study concludes that, by distancing his work from the Lockean *weltanschauung,* Nozick defends a society in which politics has no place and which the State appears, paradoxically, less limited than in the classic liberal theories.
Journal: DoisPontos
ISSN 1807-3883
Volume: 7;
Issue: 4;
Start page: 11;
Date: 2010;
Original page
Keywords: John Locke | Robert Nozick | Liberalism | Public Good | Politics
ABSTRACT
In 1974, Robert Nozick published *Anarchy, State and Utopia*, a workthat granted theoretical status to one of the streams of the neoliberal thought: libertarianism. Nozick’s text claims to be a reinterpretation of John Locke’s political theory in terms of analytical philosophy. This article argues that, althoughthe Nozick’s perspective presents certain rhetorical similarities with the work of the English philosopher, in each one of the fundamental points (such as the idea of right, the notion of personhood, the role of politics, and the concepts of justice and the public good) Nozick separates himself clearly from the Lockean premises. This study concludes that, by distancing his work from the Lockean *weltanschauung,* Nozick defends a society in which politics has no place and which the State appears, paradoxically, less limited than in the classic liberal theories.
