This book is constructed around great thinkers of the past and present who have been influential in developing the philosophy of freedom. Its main purpose is to provide a survey and overview of the ideas of leading individual philosophers and economists of capitalism who have contributed to developing what might be called the classical liberal or libertarian worldview. Champions of a Free Society endeavors to provide a guide to political and economic thinking about the desirability and construction of a free society that is intelligible to the educated layperson. Edward Younkins provides an historical perspective of the pursuit of political and economic truth. The goal of this book is to present the development of ideas in language that permits generally educated readers to understand and appreciate their significance. The book's chronological approach considers the thinkers and their ideas as they have developed over the course of time. There is much unfulfilled illuminative potential to be found in the ideas of the past and Younkins successfully integrates the ideas of past and current thinkers into a logical contemporary worldview.
Edward W. Younkins is professor of accountancy and business administration at Wheeling Jesuit University.
Table of Contents
1 Table of Contents2 Preface3 IntroductionPart 4 I. Ancient and Medieval PeriodsChapter 5 1. Lao Tzu's Naturalistic Metaphysics, Ethics, and PoliticsChapter 6 2. Aristotle and Human FlourishingChapter 7 3. Aristotle and EconomicsChapter 8 4. Epicurus on Freedom and HappinessChapter 9 5. Thomas Aquinas's Christian AristotelianismPart 10 II. Early Modern and Renaissance PeriodsChapter 11 6. Spinoza on Freedom, Ethics, and PoliticsChapter 12 7. John Locke's Limited StateChapter 13 8. Turgot on Progress and Political EconomyChapter 14 9. Adam Smith's Moral and Economic SystemPart 15 III. The Late Modern PeriodChapter 16 10. Jean-Baptiste Say's Law of Markets: A Fundamental Conceptual IntegrationChapter 17 11. Herbert Spencer on Liberty and Human ProgressChapter 18 12. Carl Menger's Economics of Well-BeingPart 19 IV. The Contemporary PeriodChapter 20 13. Ludwig von Mises on Human ActionChapter 21 14. Ayn Rand's Philosophy of ObjectivismChapter 22 15. Murray Rothbard's Randian AustrianismChapter 23 16. The Road to Objective Economics: Hayek takes a Wrong TurnChapter 24 17. Milton Friedman's Pragmatic and Incremental LibertarianismChapter 25 18. Mises, Friedman, and Rand: A Methodological ComparisonChapter 26 19. James M. Buchanan: Constitutional and Post-Constitutional Political EconomyChapter 27 20. Robert Nozick's Libertarian Framework for UtopiaChapter 28 21. Reality is Not Optional: Thomas Sowell's Vision of Man and SocietyChapter 29 22. Michael Novak's Vision of Democratic CapitalismPart 30 V. The Philosophy of Freedom: In Retrospect and ProspectChapter 31 23. Revisiting the Intellectual Heritage of a Free SocietyChapter 32 24. Developing a Paradigm for a Free SocietyChapter 33 Index34 About the Author
