Welcome

This site is devoted to advancing the rights-based political philosophy first articulated by John Locke and championed prominently in our day by the late Robert Nozick in his classic Anarchy, State, and Utopia [1974].  It will do so by explaining minimal state libertarianism in a way that is accessible to the intelligent general reader and by hosting a forum that will subject its key ideas to scrutiny and debate.

I make my own modest contribution to this cause in my book, Nozick’s Libertarian Project: An Elaboration and Defense (London: Continuum International, 2011). My second book on this subject, Libertarian Philosophy in the Real World: The Politics of Natural Rights, was published by Bloomsbury Academic in 2015. For additional information about libertarianism, this site, my books, and your host, please follow the links to the left.

New on the Blog

Anniversary of Magna Carta

Posted on June 18, 2026 by Mark Friedman

In honor of the above, I am reposting an earlier essay commemorating this great event and explaining its significance for the development of liberty and the rule of law:

Free Speech: Again, Misunderstood and Underappreciated

Posted on February 16, 2026 by Mark Friedman

As some of you know by now, I have taken time away from my libertarian-minded commentary to focus on my Jewish theology blog. Nevertheless, when I encounter an influential public figure such as Josh Hammer writing something that impugns the absolute (apart from unrealistic philosophical thought experiments) value I assign to free expression, the temptation to reply becomes too powerful to resist. As I (following Nozick) argue in chapter three of my Libertarian Philosophy in the Real World, the paramount value of human life rests on our “rational agency;” that is, the Kantian notion of persons as responsible moral agents. Continue Reading »