Nozick and individual rights
Before class, watch 3:49–5:05 of this video introducing a key example from Nozick’s argument.
In Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Robert Nozick argues that
- a minimal state is justified
- no more exensive state is justified
Thus, for Nozick the government has no justifiable role in redistributing income or wealth to achieve some desired distribution. For Nozick, any distribution is just if it arises via
- just acquisition of holdings
- just transfers of holdings
We will discuss Nozick’s argument for libertarian government. We will also discuss how one could justify government redistribution within Nozick’s framework, in cases where (1) and (2) are violated in the historical process that produced current holdings.
After this class, we will turn to wealth inequality and study the historical process that produced the distribution of holdings in the U.S. today.