Excursions
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Thomas Hobbes
George H. Smith discusses the Hobbesian theory of self-interest and why classical liberals were so intent on refuting it.
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George H. Smith
George H. Smith was formerly Senior Research Fellow for the Institute for Humane Studies, a lecturer on American History for Cato Summer Seminars, and Executive Editor of Knowledge Products. Smith's fourth and most recent book, The System of Liberty, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013.
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Lysander Spooner’s Moral Theory
Smith discusses the influence of puritanism, the religious revival in the early 19th century, and Spooner’s disagreements with Christian ethics.
Excursions
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: David Hume on Justice
George H. Smith explains David Hume’s theory of the social evolution of our ideas about justice.
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Some Background on the Prohibition Movement
Smith explains some reasons why the temperance movement switched from advocating voluntary methods to calling for coercive prohibitory laws during the 1830s.
Excursions
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: David Hume
George H. Smith begins his discussion of David Hume’s moral and social philosophy.
Liberty Chronicles
Methodological Individualism and the Study of History
The larger society does not think, it does not reason, it does not decide anything.
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More on Lysander Spooner, Vices, and Crimes
Smith continues his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s objections to confusing vices with crimes.
Excursions
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Political Philosophy and Justice
George H. Smith explores two concepts of political philosophy and their respective ideas about justice and a good society.
Excursions
Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism: Shaftesbury
George H. Smith begins his exploration of self-interest and social order by explaining Lord Shaftesbury’s theory of social psychology.
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Lysander Spooner on Vices and Crimes
Smith begins his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s libertarian classic, “Vices are not Crimes.”
Excursions
Social Laws, Part 10
George H. Smith explores Emile Durkheim’s major objections to Herbert Spencer’s theory of a free society based on voluntary contracts.
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Dio Lewis on Lysander Spooner and Prohibition
Smith discusses Lewis’s rare insights on Spooner’s personal life, and his libertarian case against prohibition.
Excursions
Social Laws, Part 9
George H. Smith explores some features of social holism, as explained and defended by Emile Durkheim.
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Gerrit Smith, Lysander Spooner, and Dio Lewis on Prohibition
Smith discusses Gerrit Smith’s arguments for prohibition and the reply by Lysander Spooner, as published in a book by Dio Lewis, Prohibition: A Failure.
Excursions
Social Laws, Part 8
George H. Smith explores the historical and theoretical roots of methodological individualism and subjectivism.
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Abolitionism, Prohibition, and the Whig Party
Smith continues his explanation of why so many abolitionists supported the compulsory prohibition of alcohol by linking them to the ideology of the Whig Party.
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Abolitionism: Slavery as Sin
Smith begins his explanation of why so many abolitionists joined the crusade for the legal prohibition of alcohol.
Excursions
Social Laws, Part 7
George H. Smith discusses some controversial features of praxeology, as defended by Ludwig von Mises.