Robert Nozick
Libertarian philosopher and author of Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Nozick's birthplace was Brooklyn, his ancestry was Jewish, and his death in 2002 followed a long fight with stomach cancer.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 16 November 1938
- Birthplace
- New York City, U.S.
- Died
- 23 January 2002
- Place of death
- Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
- Education
- Columbia University (BA)
- Princeton University (PhD)
- University of Oxford
- Era
- 20th-century philosophy
- Region
- Western philosophy
- School of thought
- Analytic philosophy; Libertarianism
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
He began moving away from socialist ideals after reading Friedrich Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty, claiming he "was pulled into libertarianism reluctantly."[3] Sophie Cohen was the maiden name of Nozick's mother, while his father, originally surnamed Cohen as well, emigrated from a Russian shtetl and operated a small enterprise.[1] While a student at Columbia University, Nozick established the campus branch of the Student League for Industrial Democracy, and for a period he was a member of the Young People's Socialist League.[3] Nozick's initial book, published in 1974 and titled Anarchy, State, and Utopia, contends that the sole justifiable state is a minimal one, restricted to safeguarding against force, fraud, and theft, and to running courts of law.[4]
The later volume The Examined Life (1989) delves into subjects such as love, death, faith, reality, and the purpose of existence.[5] Nozick's last publication, Invariances (2001), utilizes concepts from physics and biology to examine issues concerning objectivity.[6]
What the cited sources add
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy account states that Nozick was one of the most important political philosophers in the Anglo-American analytic tradition, alongside John Rawls.[7] That same source notes that Nozick's defense of libertarianism remains his most notable intellectual mark on philosophical inquiry.[7] Brennan also notes that Nozick would write about something and then move on to the next topic.[8] Nozick remarked that he understood at the time that allowing his strong annoyance with Segal's agents to make him use laws he was against would be something he would later be sorry for.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Professor Robert Nozick", Daily Telegraph, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ryan, "Robert Nozick: Leftwing political philosopher whose rightward shift set the tone for the Reagan-Thatcher era", The Guardian, January 4, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Albert Zlabinger, "An Interview with Robert Nozick", www.libertarianism.org, December 1, 1977 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Feser, "Robert Nozick (1938–2002)", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nozick, Robert (1989). The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations, pp. 7–8, 15. Simon & Schuster.; Nozick, Robert (1989). The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations, pp. 182–183. Simon & Schuster. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Robert Nozick" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers, Vol. 1, edited by John R. Shook, A&C Black, 2005, p. 1838 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Feser, "Robert Nozick (1938–2002)", Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. facts only, no text reused. iep.utm.edu
- Brennan, "Nozick on Philosophical Explorations: There is Room for Words other than Last Words", Bleeding Heart Libertarians, June 29, 2011. facts only, no text reused. bleedingheartlibertarians.com
- Sanchez, "Nozick's Apartment", April 8, 2003. facts only, no text reused. juliansanchez.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Robert Nozick (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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