ABSTRACT:  Modern libertarianism began with Friedrich Hayek’s admirable corrective to the Depression-era vogue for central economic planning. It resisted oppressive state power. It showed how capitalism could improve life for everyone. Yet today, it's a toxic blend of anarchism, disdain for the weak, and rationalization for environmental catastrophe.  Libertarians today accept new, radical arguments―which crumble under scrutiny―that justify dishonest business practices and vaccine resistance in the name of “freedom.”  Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed traces libertarianism's evolution from Hayek’s moderate pro-market ideas to the romantic fabulism of Murray Rothbard, Robert Nozick, and Ayn Rand, and Charles Koch’s promotion of climate change denial. 

Respondent: Leif Wenar, Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow, Princeton University.

Chair: Stephen Macedo, Laurance S. Rockefeller Professor of Politics and the University Center for Human Values, Princeton University.

Andrew Koppelman is John Paul Stevens Professor of Law and Professor (by courtesy) of Political Science and Affiliated Faculty, Philosophy Department, Northwestern University. He received the Walder Award for Research Excellence from Northwestern, the Hart-Dworkin award in legal philosophy from the Association of American Law Schools, and the Edward S. Corwin Prize from the American Political Science Association.  His scholarship focuses on issues at the intersection of law and political philosophy.  He has written more than 100 scholarly articles and eight books, most recently Burning Down the House: How Libertarian Philosophy Was Corrupted by Delusion and Greed, (St. Martin’s Press).  His column appears regularly at The Hill.

Background Recommended Excerpts from Prof. Koppelman