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Champions of a Free Society

Ideas o/Capitalism 's

Philosophers and Economists

EDWARD W. YOUNKINS

LEXINGTON BOOKS

A division of
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Lanham • Boulder· New York· Toronto· Plymouth. UK
LEXINGTON BOOKS

A division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200
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Copyright © 2008 by Lexington Books

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Younkins, Edward Wayne, 1948-

Champions ofa free society: ideas of capitalism's philosophers and economists /
Edward W. Younkins.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7391-2648-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)

I. Capitalism-Philosophy. 2. Free enterprise--Philosophy. 3. Economics-

Philosophy. I. Title.
HB501.Y6822008
330.12'20922-dc22 2008020632

Printed in the United States of America

eN The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSIINISO Z39.48-1992.
For my parents, who taught me to love liberty, to accept responsibility, to
respect reality, and to trust the judgment of my own mind.
 Contents

Preface ix

Introduction

Part I: Ancient and

and Medieval Periods

1 Lao Tzu's Naturalistic Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics 29

2 Aristotle and Human Flourishing 35
3 Aristotle and
and Economics 49
49
4 Epicurus on Freedom and Happiness 61
61
5 Thomas Aquinas's Christian Aristotelianism 71
71

Part II:
11: Early Modern and Renaissance Periods

6 Spinoza on Freedom, Ethics, and Politics 83

7 John Locke's Limited State 95
8 Turgot on Progress and Political Economy 109
109
9 Adam Smith's Moral and Economic System 123

Part III:
Ill: The Late Modern Period

10 Jean-Baptiste Say's Law of Markets:

A Fundamental, Conceptual Integration 137
11
11 Herbert Spencer on Liberty and Human Progress 149
12 Carl Menger's Economics of Well-Being 159
viii Contents

Part IV: The

The Contemporary Period

13 Ludwig von Mises on Human Action 181

14 Ayn Rand's Philosophy of Objectivism 201
15 Murray Rothbard's Randian Austrianism 219
219
16 The Road to Objective Economics: Hayek Takes a Wrong Turn
Tum 227
227
17 Milton Friedman's Pragmatic and Incremental Libertarianism 239
239
18 Mises, Friedman, and Rand: A Methodological Comparison 259
259
19 James M. Buchanan: Constitutional and Post-Constitutional
Political Economy 267
267
20 Robert Nozick's Libertarian Framework for Utopias 277
277
21
21 Reality Is Not Optional: Thomas Sowell's Vision of
Man and Society 289
289
22 Michael Novak's Vision of Democratic Capitalism 297
297

The Philosophy of Freedom: In Retrospect and Prospect

Part V: The

23
23 Revisiting the Intellectual Heritage of a Free Society 315
315
24 Developing a Paradigm for a Free Society 333
333

Index 371

About the Author 393

 Preface

The possibility of men living together in peace and to their mutual advantage
without having to agree on common concrete aims. and bound only by abstract
rules of conduct. was perhaps the greatest discovery mankind ever made.

-Friedrich Hayek

My 2002 book, Capitalism and Commerce, explained the concepts and moral
values upon which a free or capitalistic society is built. Included among the con-
cepts and values explained and discussed were: natural law, natural rights, indi-
vidualism, personal responsibility, negative freedom, morality, freedom of asso-
ciation, civil society, the nature of true communities, the free market, private
ownership, work, contract, the nature and responsibilities of the corporation,
voluntary unionism, progress, entrepreneurship, technology, justice, law, power,
authority, constitutionalism, and pluralism. This work introduced people to the
idea of a free market as a moral institution with a theoretical framework rather
than as simply a pragmatic means of efficient production. It was about freedom
and the discovery of the type of society men require to engage in their own hap-
piness-pursuing activities.
Whereas Capitalism and Commerce was organized around concepts and
moral values, Champions of a Free Society is constructed around great thinkers
of the past who were influential in developing the political and economic
thought of the Western world. Its main purpose is to provide a survey and over-
view of the ideas of leading individual philosophers and economists of freedom.
This current book is designed to make clear the principal theoretical ideas of a
wide array of these outstanding thinkers. In Champions of a Free Society I have
endeavored to provide a guide to political and economic thinking about the de-
sirability and construction of a free society that is inteIIigible to the educated
layperson. Gaining glimpses into the genius of earlier ages is likely to be inter-
esting and fruitful for any culturaIIy literate person. To absorb oneself in the
ideas of the masters is a magnificent inteIIectual experience.
Champions of a Free Society is intended to introduce the thoughtful reader
to the most important thinkers who have contributed to developing what we
could caII the classical liberal or libertarian worldview. Speculation regarding
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x Preface

the nature of a free society began over 2,500 years ago and has grown through
the centuries. Throughout the ages, many thinkers have observed that intrusive-
ness in the lives, conduct, or behavior of individuals is a barrier to progress,
prosperity, happiness, the spread of knowledge, and so on. They have asserted
the moral primacy of the individual human person against the claims of any so-
cial collectivity. In order to know how ideas on political and economic freedom
unfolded, it is necessary to immerse oneself in intellectual history.
A study covering such a long period of time requires selection from a great
variety of thinkers. Such an investigation is necessarily selective and interpreta-
tive by virtue of what is omitted, what is included, and by the method of presen-
tation of what is included therein. I have attempted to include those thinkers
whose ideas have had substantial influence, are the most relevant, and are the
most interesting. In several cases, I have selected neglected thinkers who have
written underappreciated intellectual gems or who have anticipated recent politi-
cal and economic thought. In choosing to study particular thinkers I have made
the judgment that others are less relevant and/or less interesting. Of course, my
own predispositions have influenced my judgment and choices of what thinkers
to include. Some of the thinkers I have included others would leave out and
some that I have failed to include others would find to be indispensable to the
subject matter.
I am not impartial or neutral. My own attachment is to what could be
termed classical liberalism, classical individualism, or perhaps flourishing indi-
vidualism. This book represents my attempt at a serious but accessible introduc-
tion to the great philosophers and economists who sowed the seeds of liberty,
the harvest of which we reap the benefits of today. I have worked to provide a
substantial guide for the general reader who desires to grasp the fundamental
ideas that have advanced human understanding of man's nature and his place in
the universe.
My primary concern is with those thinkers who want to construct a social
order in which individual freedom can be maximized and who seek to defend
liberty on ethical and moral grounds. Many such thinkers believe that a proper
political and economic system cannot be separated from the realm of natural law
and that there are universally applicable truths that do not depend on the circum-
stances of time and place. They hold that a completed political and economic
philosophy demands an account of man and an appropriate ethical framework.
As yet, we have no such definitive finished comprehensive system.
Such a system would have to incorporate and explain how there is an inti-
mate connection between economic science and an objective normative frame-
work for understanding human life. Given that all objective knowledge in our
one universe is interrelated in some manner, it follows that the discovery of a
truth-based economics and of a moral philosophy based on the nature of man
and the world would be consistent with one another. Because truth is consistent,
it follows that economics and morality are inextricably related parts of one indi-
vidual body of knowledge. Such a transdisciplinary approach must be driven by
the demands of truth and must include free will if it is to make a well-founded
 Preface xi

case for a free society. The long-run success of a political and economic system
depends on an overarching theoretical perspective that includes a solid ethical
foundation that appeals to an independent ontological order. The integrity and
comprehensiveness of such a worldview requires metaphysical content. To suc-
ceed in our quest, we must have viable, sound, and proper conceptions of man's
nature, knowledge, values, and actions.
Champions of a Free Society provides an historical retrospective of the pur-
suit of political and economic truth. It provides a framework for analyzing and
evaluating the speculations of the great philosophers and economists throughout
history. Because no study is really separate, our concern is with all those disci-
plines and thinkers who deal with freedom, human action, and the moral and
economic choices people make. We are concerned with those thinkers who want
to construct a social order in which individual liberty can be maximized. This
involves the consideration of trends and changes in related disciplines and in the
underlying intellectual climate. Because of the inextricably related nature of the
real world, boundaries are necessarily blurred between man's artificially con-
structed academic disciplines. Thinkers from one particular academic area seek
light from other complementary branches of study.
This survey of major liberal and libertarian ideas will outline and describe
each thinker's philosophy of liberty. The goal of this book is to present the de-
velopment of ideas from before the early Greeks to the current day in language
that permits generally educated readers to understand, recognize, and appreciate
their significance. The book's chronological approach considers the thinkers,
their ideas, and their schools of thought as they have developed over the course
of time. This volume's unified approach presents a breadth of coverage and a
manageable organization that effectively and efficiently summarizes and inte-
grates the ideas of diverse philosophers and economists of a free society. As
author, I assert no pretense with respect to the originality of interpretation and
presentation or regarding the profundity of my analysis or synthesis of the ideas
presented. The absence of reference notes in this book does not imply that these
interpretations of various thinkers' ideas originate with me or are my own.
These expository essays on the ideas of these champions of a free society are
aimed at the lay reader and are more interpretative than they are critical. Schol-
ars will certainly find my exegetic approach deficient in terms of the footnote-
laden approach of conventional academic debate. However, I do believe that this
book provides an excellent means for acquainting readers with the essential
ideas of the thinkers included therein. These chapters represent a non-
specialist's account of these thinkers' works and ideas. My goal is to make their
ideas available to a great number of readers through the use of clear, non-
technical explanations of their ideas.
A major message of Champions of a Free Society is that it is important to
study the ideas of the past and to be respectful of the wisdom found in former
times. The point is not when great thinkers wrote their works and espoused their
ideas, but rather the content of their books and the truth of their ideas. There is
much unfulfilled illuminative potential to be found in the ideas, theories, and
xii Preface

perspectives of the past. There has been a long and fruitful tradition of political
and economic discourse. Over time, an increasing number of thinkers have
joined the debate.
In part, this book is an outgrowth of the lectures, covering much the same
ground, that I gave during the spring of 2006 in my History of Economic
Thought course at Wheeling Jesuit University. Of course, from the transdiscipli-
nary way in which I approached this course it could very well have been called
History of Political and Economic Philosophy. Champions of a Free Society has
not been specifically designed as a textbook, but it is suitable for courses in his-
tory of economic thought, political economy, political philosophy, or political
and economic philosophy.
After an introduction, the book is divided into the following five sections:
(1) Ancient and Medieval Periods; (2) Early Modem and Renaissance Periods;
(3) The Late Modem Period; (4) The Contemporary Period; and (5) The Phi-
losophy of Freedom: In Retrospect and Prospect. Whereas Capitalism and
Commerce supplied a "bank" of fundamental ideas that provide the groundwork
for the free enterprise system, Champions of a Free Society provides a "bank" of
the essential ideas of the great thinkers who developed those ideas. Sections 1
through 4 of this work essentially constitute a handbook of their fundamental
ideas. The chapters included in these sections are primarily devoted to a presen-
tation of a particular thinker's basic ideas. Although it may be desirable to do so,
the chapters do not have to be read in progression in order to be understood by
the reader. Most of the chapters represent self-contained treatments of the
thinker at hand. At the end of each chapter I have included a list of recom-
mended readings for those who wish to study a given thinker in greater depth
and detail. The final section of the book provides a summary of the preceding
chapters and looks to the future and toward the potential integration of the ideas
of past and current thinkers into a logical and systematic worldview. In particu-
lar, an attempt will be made to integrate various insights into a broad natural law
and natural-rights-based analytic and normative science ofliberty.
Over the years, many people have contributed importantly to this work by
reading and commenting on all of it, various portions of it, or drafts of my es-
says containing ideas that appear in it. I am extremely grateful to the following
individuals for their useful observations and suggestions and for their help in my
efforts to clarify my ideas: Charles W. Baird, Doug Bandow, Roger E. Bissell,
WaIter Block, David Boaz, Peter Boettke, Samuel Bostaph, James M. Buchanan,
Bruce J. Caldwell, Robert L. CampbeU, Bryan Caplan, Shelly Carenbauer, Scott
Carpenter, Rafe Champion, Tyler Cowen, Ricardo Crespo, Paul Cwik, Douglas
Den Uyl, Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Richard M. Ebeling, John B. Egger, Kenneth G.
Elzinga, Reginald Firehammer, Fred Foldvary, Arthur Foulkes, Thomas Frecka,
Milton Friedman, Richard Fuerle, Joseph S. Fulda, Sean Gabb, Roger Garrison,
Stephen GrabiIl, Bettina Bien Greaves, Homayoun Hajiran, Stuart K. Hayashi,
Jeffrey M. Herbener, Stephen Hicks, Robert Higgs, Beth Hoffinan, Steven Hor-
witz, John Hospers, Edward L. Hudgins, Matthew Humphries, Candice E. Jack-
son, Richard C. B. Johnsson, Hubert Jongen, David Kelley, Stephan KinselIa,
 Preface xiii

Shawn E. Klein, William E. Kline, George Leef, Yuval Levin, Loren Lomasky,
Roderick T. Long, Spencer MacCallum, Tibor Machan, Russell Madden, Uskali
Maki, John E. Mansuy, Martin Masse, Nigel Meek, Thomas Michaud, Jan
Narveson, Ron Nash, C. James Newlan, Michael Novak, Alysha Pannett, Jason
Pappas, Neil Parille, Lindsay Perigo, William H. Peterson, Karen M. Phillips,
Ralph Raico, Douglas B. Rasmussen, Lawrence W. Reed, Beth Reiley, Sheldon
Richman, Brent Robinson, Llewellyn Rockwell, Joseph Rowlands, Peter Saint-
Andre, Ken Schoolland, Larry Schweikart, Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Larry J.
Sechrest, Fred Seddon, Frank Shostak, Aeon Skoble, Mark Skousen, Barry
Smith, Russell Soble, Gennady Stolyarov, Chris Tame, William Thomas, Jeffrey
Tucker, Murray Weidenbaum, Waiter E. Williams, Gary Wolfram, Thomas
Woods, Stephen Yates, Andre Zantonavitch, and Gloria L. ZUfiiga.
Of course, inclusion in the above list does not indicate endorsement of this
book or agreement with the ideas expressed within it. It does mean that each
person on the list has assisted me in some way with this current project. Most of
all, I am indebted to my secretary at Wheeling Jesuit University, Carla Cash, for
her most capable and conscientious help in bringing this book to print.
Finally, in the end, it is only I who can be found responsible for any errors
found in this book.

Edward W. Younkins
Wheeling Jesuit University
 Introduction

The history of thought and ideas is a discourse carried on from generation to

generation. The thinking of later ages grows out of the thinking ofearlier ages.
Without the aid of this stimulation intellectual progress would have been im-
possible. The continuity of human evolution, sowing for the ujJ~pring and har-
vesting on land cleared and tilled by the ancestors, manifests liself also in the
history of science and ideas. We have inherited from our for4uthers not only a
stock ofproducts of various orders ofgoods which is the source of our material
wealth; we have no less inherited ideas and thoughts, theories and technologies
to which our thinking owes its productivity.

-Ludwig von Mises

For more than 2,500 years, great thinkers have devoted their efforts toward the
determination of the best social order based on their investigations and under-
standings of human nature. Many have concluded that free societies are superior
because they are in agreement with human nature. Not all thinkers accepted lib-
erty as their primary principle, and those who did were not always consistent in
their arguments for a free society. Nonetheless, political and economic philoso-
phy has drawn the attention of the great minds of all ages who have asked ques-
tions regarding the morally appropriate or just political and economic system
and who have explained the moral premises and postulates that they maintain
should underpin such a system. Many thinkers have sought to discover universal
principles that underlie political economy under all historical circumstances. It
follows that political and economic philosophy is essential and fundamental to
an understanding of the nature and role of the state and of man's relationship to
it.
Throughout history, creative thinkers have produced normative, descriptive,
and explanatory ideas that have deeply influenced the character and course of
world history. There has been longevity of political and economic ideas as many
notions that had been introduced in a past social order frequently influence later
thought and action. By studying the masters, the discerning reader will detect the
foreshadowings, parallels, and similarities of many supposedly new doctrines in
the writings of long ago. Many of the ideas that have contributed to Western
political thought have emerged gradually or became more clearly formulated
2 Introduction

over long periods of time. It can be enlightening to study the development of

political and economic ideas by searching for their origins, variations, continu-
ity, interrelationships, and appearances. It is possible to consider the develop-
ment of political and economic philosophy as progressive in the sense that each
succeeding generation learns something from the thought of preceding eras.
This introductory chapter offers an overall view of the history of political
and economic thought with respect to the desirability of free societies as it has
found expression in the writings of many major philosophers and economists
who have sown the seeds and watered the roots of modem free societies. This
chapter also provides a brief overview of my own political and economic per-
spective as it has resulted from my study of the diverse political and economic
philosophies of freedom of the past.
The ideas discussed in this book range from the social speculations of Lao
Tzo to the modem efforts of the twentieth century based on philosophical and
empirical work. Of course, the purpose of such a survey is to provide an inte-
grated and meaningful portrait of the field. This book is written for individuals
who want to learn more about the philosophical foundations of political and
economic freedom. It is an introduction and a guide to the principal theoretical
ideas on liberty that the most influential and creative thinkers in history have
produced. The goal is to provide in one place an introduction for the general
reader to the great ideas of the liberal and libertarian tradition.
This work is by no means a comprehensive or complete history of political
and economic thought. It is primarily a history of liberal thought in which I have
attempted to include the most influential and pertinent thinkers. Such a history
of ideas is selective by nature and has been influenced by my own interests and
predilections. By choosing to study certain thinkers, I have made the judgment
that others are less relevant or less interesting. Of course, the selection and em-
phasis in a survey covering such a long period of time inevitably results in diffi-
cult decisions and regrettable omissions.
The idea of equal freedom has been approached from various standpoints.
Liberal moral, political, and economic demands have been grounded in the theo-
ries of natural law and natural rights as well as by reference to utilitarian theo-
ries and have been both religious and secular in nature. Despite this historical
variability, the desirability of a free society has remained a basic and important
perspective. The history of the idea of freedom is an account of what is perhaps
the most important speculation of the human mind. By studying the great think-
ers of the past, a person can discern recurring ideas and problems. Such a reader
will notice that many thinkers are inconsistent and how ideas have developed
and changed or have remained the same over time.
This book is organized around great thinkers of the past and the chapters are
arranged chronologically, tracing the development of political and economic
thought from antiquity to the present time. A chronological arrangement of the
great thinkers had been followed in order to elucidate the evolutionary process
in political and economic thinking as ideas blend into one another. These think-
ers have sought to answer questions dealing with the nature of man, the purpose
 Introduction 3

and justification of the political power of the state, and the relationship between
government authority and individual freedom. This book thus considers the his-
tory of man as the evolved and involved story of the idea of freedom.

Ancient and Medieval Periods

It is necessary to start our study somewhere and it is logical to begin our intel-
lectual history with an account of ancient thought. Oriental ideas inherited from
a remote past have come down to us through the great philosophers of ancient
Greece. Liberal ideas can be detected in the writings of the Chinese philosopher
Lao Tzu (604-531 B.C.), who viewed individual happiness as the basis of a good
society. An opponent oftaxation and war, Lao Tzu taught that rulers should take
no willful action and that government should not interfere with actions of peace-
ful people. He was explicitly against the use of force and called for the avoid-
ance of violence.
Greek philosophy has exerted a profound impact on Western thought
through a continuous line of thinkers beginning with Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and
so on. Through Christianity, Greek ideas have had a continuous but varying ef-
fect upon political and economic thought. During the Middle Ages and medieval
period Greek thought in economics and natural philosophy was sustained and
passed on to modem thinkers. For example, the value of freedom was a compo-
nent of the Greek city-state tradition as well as of the Roman Empire and its
laws, and in time became part of the feudal structure and municipal constitutions
of the medieval period. Another important idea that began with the Greeks was
the notion of a higher law by which everyone, including rulers, could be judged.
The origins of such an idea can be traced back to Aristotle, who envisioned a
higher metaphysical and moral goal that is applicable for individuals and the
polity.
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) taught that to make life fully human (i.e., to flour-
ish) an individual must acquire virtues and make use of his reason as fully as he
is capable. His realistic theory of knowledge included the need for specific indi-
vidual interpretation with respect to a person's actions because ofthe multitude
of various human circumstances and capabilities. Rather than insisting on as-
cetic living, Aristotle states that human beings are to develop their powers and to
live well and comfortably-men exist for the sake of the good life. He said that
each citizen should aim at a good life-the life of the polis. Aristotle was de-
voted to the polis which has the goal of promoting the good and the virtuous.
For Aristotle, civil society (i.e., a good human community) could activate
many of a person's natural capacities. He explained man's social nature by
pointing out his capacity to learn from others and the potential contribution of
such knowledge to each person's flourishing and happiness (i.e., eudaimonia).
Aristotle's idea of eudaimonia is close to twentieth-century thinker, Ayn Rand's,
"noncontradictory state of joy."
4 Introduction

Aristotle has provided us with many economic concepts. For him, as for
other Greek thinkers, the economic element is subordinated to the political and
to the ethical-his economics is embedded in his politics and grew out of his
political and moral philosophy and was presented in the context of philosophy.
Aristotle denied the labor theory of value, hinted at the marginalist concept of
value and the law of diminishing utility, distinguished between use value and
exchange value, differentiated between natural and unnatural forms of exchange,
identified various types of justice, identified the problem of commensurability,
stated that the natural acquisition of property enables men to live a good life in
the polis, and explained that the use of money facilitates the equalization of want
satisfaction.
Greek philosophers generally disparaged some forms of acquisition activi-
ties and looked down upon money making. Aristotle was no exception and be-
lieved that there were limits to the legitimate role of commercial activity. He
viewed estate or household management as natural and commerce and usury as
unnatural and was disturbed by the prospect of the unlimited accumulation of
wealth. Aristotle noted that in the pursuit of wealth as exchange value there are
no limits to the end it seeks, whereas limits are set to wealth as use value. Aris-
totle recognized the function of money but for him interest appears to be con-
trary to nature and money making also seems to be rather unnatural. He says that
wealth should be a means and not an end.
Epicurus (341-270 RC.) furthered the development of the idea of individu-
alism by asserting the moral primacy of the person against any social collectiv-
ity. He speaks of independence through the restriction of wants and said that
even the state is unnecessary if one's wants are few and small enough. Epicurus
explains that virtue and wisdom are causes of pleasure, that anxiety and pain are
obstacles to happiness, and that reason helps people to live pleasurably. As an
atomistic materialist, he viewed the mind or soul as bodily and as a group of
atoms that disperse upon death. His ethical naturalism explains that virtues are
necessary for happiness. People should live without fear and should live fully
engaged in one's projects. The goal is to have freedom from pain of body and
from trouble of mind (i.e., mental anguish). Viewing pleasure as tranquility, he
recommends limiting one's desires and eliminating the fear of gods and of
death. Epicurus placed a high value on friendships and voluntary alliances and
cautioned people to avoid politics and public life whenever and wherever possi-
ble. The Epicurean instrumental idea of justice is that it is an agreement to nei-
ther harm nor to be harmed.
The Epicurean basis for individualism was furthered by the Stoics, who also
nourished the concept of natural law. Both the teaching of Epicurus and Stoi-
cism emphasized the here and now. Both taught that happiness results from vir-
tue, that it is best to render one's needs and desires to the bare minimum, and
that one can be happy independent of comforts and political circumstances. Both
envisioned justice as protecting what we would call individual rights today and
did not justify political arrangements to the extent that they contribute to virtue.
Natural law, as defined by Stoicism, had a great influence on Roman law. The
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