Technology and the End of Authority: What Is Government For?

by Jason Kuznicki

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.

Genres: Philosophy

285 pages, Hardcover

Published January 24, 2017

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lucid and compelling bundle of arguments that will stick with me as a possible framework and affect my ways of thinking long after I forget the particulars I agree or disagree with.... Also, agnarchism is a new-to-me word that I find absolutely splendid.

(Nb the author is a friend.)