# Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism

**URL:** <https://www.libertarianism.org/books/self-interest-social-order-classical-liberalism>

**By** George H. Smith

**Published:** July 17, 2017

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Intellectual surveys of Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Butler, Mandeville, and Hutcheson and their respective contributions to political philosophy.

There is a well-worn image and phrase for libertarianism: “atomized individualism.” This hobgoblin has spread so thoroughly that even some libertarians think their philosophy unreservedly supports private persons, whatever the situation, whatever their behavior. Smith’s _Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism_, corrects this misrepresentation with careful intellectual surveys of Hume, Smith, Hobbes, Butler, Mandeville, and Hutcheson and their respective contributions to political philosophy.

_The essays in this book originally appeared on Libertarianism.org._

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