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Technology and the End of Authority

What Is Government For?

  • Book
  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Jason Kuznicki

    1. Cato Institute, Washington, USA

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  • Surveys the discipline of mainstream political philosophy using tools that grow from modern libertarianism

  • Incisively criticizes authoritarian thinking and commonly received views in political theory

  • Connects advancements in technology with projections for the future of the state and political authority

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-x
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  2. Introduction: The March of God in the World

    • Jason Kuznicki
    Pages 1-6

  3. A Too-Brief History of Political Theory

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7
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    2. The Ancient State and the Myth of Marathon

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 9-30

    3. The Ancient Dissenters

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 31-38

    4. Christianity and the City of Man: From Retreat to Reform

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 39-57

    5. The March of the State in the Early Modern World

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 59-86

    6. The Social Contractarians: Can an Agreement Specify What Government Is For?

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 87-146

    7. The Modern Omnipotent State

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 147-183

  4. Toward a New Theory of the State

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 185-185
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    2. The Structures of Political Theory

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 187-198

    3. The State Is a Bundle

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 199-208

    4. Some Objections to the Theory

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 209-220

    5. The Falsification of State Action

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 221-237

    6. Advancing Technology Demands Intellectual Modesty

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 239-252

    7. On Trade as a Central Feature of Society

      • Jason Kuznicki
      Pages 253-265

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 267-285
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides a critical survey of Western political philosophy from a classical liberal perspective, paying particular attention to knowledge problems and the problem of political authority. Its central argument is that the state is a tool for solving a historically changing set of problems, and that, as a tool, the state is frequently deficient on both moral and practical grounds. Government action can be considered as a response to a set of problems, all of which may conceivably be solved in some other manner as well. The book examines in particular the relationship between the state and technology over time. Technological developments may make the state more or less necessary over time, which is a consideration that is relatively new in the history of political philosophy, but increasingly important. The book is organized chronologically and concludes with an essay on trends in the history of political philosophy, as well as its surprisingly bright prospects for future development.





Authors and Affiliations

  • Cato Institute, Washington, USA

    Jason Kuznicki

About the author

Jason Kuznicki is Research Fellow at the Cato Institute, USA, and editor of Cato Unbound. He obtained his PhD in intellectual history from Johns Hopkins University, USA.

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