# Crosscurrents (Vol. 4 No. 2) **URL:** **Published:** June 1, 1987 --- “The issue provides a useful overview of some of the questions involved in the relationship between law, morality, and justice.” ## IHS Fellow Gets Ph.D. Jeremy Shearmur, now senior research fellow at the Institute for Humane Studies, successfully defended his dissertation, “The Political Thought of F. A. von Hayek” (London School of Economics, University of London) in December 1986. Shearmur, formerly research assistant to Karl Popper, argues that Hayek’s arguments on behalf of liberty are strengthened if linked, as Hayek himself suggests, with the critical rationalism of Popper. Hayek’s attempt to extract the maxim that each individual is to be treated as an end in himself from utilitarian considerations can be fortified when the concern for truth is brought in. Utilitarians have a concern with truth, and anyone concerned with truth should accord others what Shearmur calls “dialogue rights,” the implications for society of which he explores in some detail. Shearmur uses these “dialogue rights” to lay a foundation for classical liberalism that is slightly more rationalistic than Hayek’s. He concludes by resolving some problems in Hayek’s work and answering certain communitarian criticisms of classical liberalism. ◆ ## Journal Examines Philosophy and Law The Autumn 1986 issue of _Social Philosophy and Policy_, published by Basil Blackwell for the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, is devoted to an examination of the relationship between law and philosophy. Essays include Richard Epstein on “Taxation in a Lockean World.” Philip Soper on “Choosing a Legal Theory on Moral Grounds,” and Randy E. Barnett on “Contract Remedies and Inalienable Rights.” The issue provides a useful overview of some of the questions involved in the relationship between law, morality, and justice. _Social Philosophy and Policy_ is published twice yearly. For more information, contact: Social Philosophy and Policy Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403. ◆ ## Book Examines Economic, Ethical, Historical Dimensions of Property Henri Lepage, the author of the excellent introduction to modern political economy, _Demain le Capitalisme_ (translated as _Tomorrow, Capitalism_, Open Court: 1982), is again influencing French intellectual life with his _Pourquoi la Propriete_ (Hachette: 1985). Currently available only in French, the book offers a brilliant examination of the inevitability of property and the case for property rights within a classical liberal framework. Among the chapters in the book are essays on property and environmental conservation; property and knowledge; property, the market, and morality, and property and liberty. Lepage is currently working on a book on human rights. ## Early Capitalists Examined A recent attempt to use rigorous historical methods to assess the origins of the “first capitalists” in England has shown the varied classes, occupations, and social backgrounds from which they came. _The First Industrialists: The Problem of Origins_ (Cambridge University Press: 1985) by French historian Francois Crouzet shows a majority to have arisen from the middle class, with a large enough proportion from the lower-middle class to raise “the myth of the self-made man phoenix-like, from its ashes.” The work is richly documented, with 54 pages of footnotes and references and many tables presenting evidence on over 300 leading industrialists from 1750 to 1850. The first industrialists, claims Crouzet, were “revolutionaries; they introduced new machinery, new processes, new products.” ◆ ## Adam Smith on Tape A group of scholars associated with the Institute is responsible for one of the most innovative and exciting developments in teaching today. In a series of skillfully edited and narrated tapes, the ideas of seminal thinkers, such as _Adam Smith_, _Thomas Jefferson_, _Rousseau_, _Marx_, _Machiavelli_, the authors of _the Federalist Papers_, and other important thinkers in political, social, and economic theory, are brought to life. The scholarship maintains a consistently high level, while managing to keep the listener’s attention through the use of professional actors and engaging voice characterizations. Using varying accents and voices while reading from letters, diaries, books, and other historical sources, the narrators manage to create the impression of a grand and fascinating conversation, to which we are privileged to listen. These tapes, produced by Knowledge Products, Inc., are highly recommended for students eager to understand both the history of ideas and the contemporary relevance of the key insights of the great thinkers. The four tapes on _Adam Smith_ (with a retail value of $50) are made available free of charge by the Institute to students and faculty on a selective basis. All that is required is that the sponsor supply the Institute with written commitments from five or more students to listen to the tapes from start to finish. For more information, contact the “Adam Smith Tape Program” care of IHS. ◆ ## Summer Seminars on Liberty \& Society, Public Choice Seminars for undergraduate juniors and seniors and first-year graduate and professional students will be held this summer by the Institute and the Center for Study of Public Choice. The IHS Liberty \& Society seminars will be held June 21-27 at Marymount University and George Mason University in northern Virginia and August 2-8 at the College of Notre Dame in northern California. The Liberty \& Society program is interdisciplinary, and offers a thoroughgoing introduction to the foundations of classical liberal thought. The faculty includes noted economist Israel Kirzner, author of _Competition and Entrepreneurship_ and many other works; philosopher George Smith; law professor Randy Barnett, and historians Ralph Raico and Leonard Liggio. Information on the program, including full scholarships, is available by writing to the Liberty \& Society Summer Seminar Director, Institute for Humane Studies, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. Recommendations from faculty and students of potential invitees are welcomed. The Center for Study of Public Choice at George Mason University will hold a seminar June 14-19, featuring Nobel Laureate James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock, co-authors of _The Calculus of Consent_; Carolyn Weaver, editor of _Regulation_ magazine; Charles Goetz of the University of Virginia law school; Ron Heiner of the Brigham Young University economics department, and other leaders in public choice theory. The seminar will serve as an introduction to the growing field of public choice, the application of economic thinking to political and legal institutions. It will conclude with lectures and discussions on constitutional economics. The Center offers fully paid scholarships and small stipends to qualified applicants. For more information or to submit recommendations of students, contact Prof. Jennifer Roback, Center for Study of Public Choice, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030. ## New Journal Launched A new quarterly journal has been launched featuring essays by several scholars associated with the Institute. The first issue of _Critical Review: A Journal of Books and Ideas_, edited by Kurt Schuler, featured Jeremy Shearmur on “Popper and Marx”; IHS Fellow Don Lavoie on the “Political and Economic Illusions of Socialism”; IHS associates Pete Boettke, Steve Horwitz, and David L. Prychitko on “The Roots of Apartheid”; IHS Claude Lambe Fellow Lee Cronk (now doing anthropological field work in Kenya) on “The Anthropology of Tyranny,” and other essays. The second issue will feature IHS Claude Lambe Fellow Randy Kroszner on “Technology and the Control of Labor”; Mark Blaug on IHS associate scholar Donald McCloskey’s book, _The Rhetoric of Economics_; IHS Postdoctoral Fellow David Beito on government’s role in America’s suburbanization, and Gus diZerega on “Postmodern Liberalism and Green Politics.” Subscriptions are $15 per year and are available from _Critical Review_, 532 Broadway, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10012. ## History of Taxation Examined _A History of Taxation and Expenditure in the Western World_ by Carolyn Webber and Aaron Wildavsky (New York, 1986) is an ambitious, important, and welcome project, a careful scrutiny of the lynchpin of the modern state: taxation. How the west reached its current fiscal status is not only a fascinating story, running from ancient Greece and Rome to the 20th century, but an understanding of this process is crucial for historians, economists, sociologists, and political theorists working in the classical liberal tradition. This is especially true of the nation-state building period between 1300 and 1700 A.D. Although Webber and Wildavsky’s model, historiographical perspective, and obvious ideological-preference (i.e., for strong, smoothly functioning central states) all lead them to an uneven interpretation of events, this book’s faults are minor when compared to the service of finally bringing together much of the important secondary literature on the topic. Rather than the final word on the subject, this book marks the beginning of an important and exciting research program. Classical liberal scholars will find numerous research and dissertation topics in every chapter of this noteworthy project.