Non-Libertarian FAQ: Critical References

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This article is from the Libertarian FAQ, by Joe Dehn jwd3@dehnbase.fidonet.org, Robert Bickford rab.AT.daft.com, Mike Huben mhuben@world.std.com and Advocates for Self-Government http://www.self-gov.org/ with numerous contributions by others.

47 Non-Libertarian FAQ: Critical References

I am seeking references to critiques and analyses of libertarianism or its
positions, which seem to be very scarce. So far the following have been
found or recommended (special thanks to James Hammerton and Robert Lockard):

* Walter Adams "The Bigness Complex" Pantheon Books, 1987. (opposes
libertarian antitrust position)
* Norman P. Barry "On Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism" MacMillan
1987
* Jeremy Bentham "Anarchical Fallacies"
* John Bryant "Libertarian Dirt" Socratic Press, 1995. A ranting pamphlet
about Murray Rothbard; 2/3 self promotion and blank pages.
* George W. Downs and Patrick D. Larkey "The Search For Government
Efficiency: From Hubris to Helplessness" Random House, 1986. A serious,
scholarly study of efficiency. Not a polemic but very necessary to
balance the government as inefficient polemics.
* Charles T. Goodsell "The Case for Bureaucracy: A Public Administration
Polemic" Chatham House, 1994. Reexamines empirical findings on U.S.
bureaucratic performance, noting how well the American system really
works.
* Allen Buchanan "Ethics, Efficiency, and the Market" Rowman &
Littlefield, 1985. From the cover: "... contains the most thorough and
systematic analysis of economic and moral arguments both for and
against the market as an instrument of resource allocation." The
chapter, "Moral Arguments For and Against the Market" occupies most of
the book.
* G. A. Cohen "Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality (Studies in Marxism
and Social Theory)" Cambridge Univ Press, 1995.
* John Gray "Beyond the New Right: Markets, Government and the Common
Environment" Routledge 1994. John Gray once held views very close to
libertarianism, but in this book he repudiates both neoclassical
liberalism and libertarianism. Chapter 3, "The Moral Foundations of
Market Institutions" contains some strong criticisms of the libertarian
position.
* Donald P. Green "Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory" Yale University
Press, 1994. A serious, scholarly study of the intellectual failures of
Rational Choice Theory.
* Alan Haworth "Anti-Libertarianism: Markets, Philosophy, and Myth"
Routledge 1994.
* Dennis Henigan, Bruce Nicholson, David Hemenway "Guns and the
Constitution" Aletheia Press 1995. A book-length FAQ of refutations of
the gun-ownership propganda and mythology promulgated by the NRA and
gleefully parrotted by libertarians. Essential reading.
* William E. Hudson "American Democracy in Peril" Chatham House, 1996.
Chapter 3 "The second challenge: radical individualism" has a
subsection "The flaws of libertarianism."
* Attracta Ingram "A Political Theory of Rights" Oxford University Press
1994. Ingram argues that the libertertarian concept of self-ownership
is inadequate, and proposes a (much more complex) theory of rights
based in a principle of self-government. Chapters 1-3, form a useful
exposition and critique of the standard libertarian position.
* Roland Kley "Hayek's Social and Political Thought" Oxford University
Press 1994. Shows that Hayek's concept of a spontaneous order doesn't
stand up to scrutiny, undermining a body of theory libertarians often
draw upon to show that free markets work.
* Will Kymlicka "Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction"
Clarendon Press, 1990. Now the standard text in the field; very highly
regarded. Has a long chapter on libertarianism. Not at all kind to it.
* Steven Luper-Foy "The Possibility of Knowledge: Nozick and His Critics"
* Stephen L. Newman "Liberalism at Wits' End: The Libertarian Revolt
Against the Modern State" Cornell University Press in 1984
* William J. Novak "The People's Welfare: Law and Regulation in
Nineteenth-Century America" Univ. of North Carolina Pr., 1996. "Blasts
to pieces... the libertarian fantasy that until the twentieth century
the American state left private property owners and economic
entrepreneurs alone." --Robert W. Gordon, Yale Law School.
* Jeffrey Paul, editor "Reading Nozick" (anthology of essays about
"Anarchy, State, And Utopia")
* L.A. Rollins "The Myth of Natural Rights"
* Robbins, John W "Answer to Ayn Rand : A critique of the philosophy of
objectivism"
* Schartz, Peter "Libertarianism: The perversion of liberty" (Article)
* Thomas A. Spragens, Jr. "The Limitations of Libertarianism." RESPONSIVE
COMMUNITY (Spring 1992)45-47. (Part 2.)
* James P. Sterba "Contemporary Social and Political Philosophy"
Wadsworth, 1994. His chapter on libertarianism makes the argument that,
"... the right to a social minimum endorsed by welfare liberals is also
required by the libertarian's own ideal of liberty."
* James P. Sterba "Morality in Practice" Fifth edition, Wadsworth, 1997.
Another statement of the above argument. A longer version of this
article will appear as "Reconciling Liberty and Equality or Why
Libertarians must be Socialists" in Liberty and Equality, edited by
Larry May and Jonothan Schonsheck (MIT, 1996).
* Lars Udehn "The Limits of Public Choice: A sociological critique of the
economic theory of politics" (Routledge 1996).
* Robert Anton Wilson "Natural Law"
* Donald A. Wittman "The Myth of Democratic Failure: Why Political
Institutions Are Efficient" University of Chicago Press, 1995. "...
refutes one of the cornerstone beliefs of economics and political
science: that economic markets are more efficient than the processes
and institutions of democratic government."
* Jonathan Wolff "Robert Nozick: Propery, Justice and the Minimal State"
Blackwell 1991. (Details Nozick's political theory and exposes its
flaws and incompleteness.)

I've yet to read most of these, and welcome reviews, summaries, and better
citations.