On Nozick

by Edward Feser

ON NOZICK, like other titles in the Wadsworth Philosopher's Series, offers a concise, yet comprehensive, introduction to this philosopher's most important ideas. Presenting the most important insights of well over a hundred seminal philosophers in both the Eastern and Western traditions, the Wadsworth Philosophers Series contains volumes written by scholars noted for their excellence in teaching and for their well-versed comprehension of each featured philosopher's major works and contributions. These titles have proven valuable in a number of ways. Serving as standalone texts when tackling a philosophers' original sources or as helpful resources for focusing philosophy students' engagements with these philosopher's often conceptually daunting works, these titles have also gained extraordinary popularity with a lay readership and quite often serve as "refreshers" for philosophy instructors.

Genres: Philosophy

104 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2003

About the author

Edward Feser is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California. He has been a Visiting Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of California at Santa Barbara, an M.A. in religion from the Claremont Graduate School, and a B.A. in philosophy and religious studies from the California State University at Fullerton.

Called by National Review “one of the best contemporary writers on philosophy,” Feser is the author of On Nozick, Philosophy of Mind, Locke, The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism, and Aquinas, and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Hayek and Aristotle on Method and Metaphysics. He is also the author of many academic articles. His primary academic research interests are in the philosophy of mind, moral and political philosophy, and the philosophy of religion.

Feser also writes on politics and culture, from a conservative point of view; and on religion, from a traditional Roman Catholic perspective. In this connection, his work has appeared in such publications as The American, The American Conservative, City Journal, The Claremont Review of Books, Crisis, First Things, Liberty, National Review, New Oxford Review, Public Discourse, Reason, and TCS Daily.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and six children.

Reviews

[Adam Barger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars for this very accessible introduction to Nozick and basic libertarian political philosophy. Minus 1 star for the unnecessarily choppy writing that sometimes distracts from otherwise well-constructed prose.

I picked this up due to a recommendation from a philosopher friend who studies Nozick. His reasoning was the complexity of Nozick’s writings alone could be a turn-off for folks new Nozick’s ideas. In that sense, this little book is very useful. It’s well organized and concise.

Beware of the philosophers’ curse: the inability to write without multiple independent clauses launched by the ubiquitous “however” or “suppose”. Remove those words and the philosopher is crippled. However, it’s still good. Suppose you don’t read it. That would be a mistake.

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 100 pages, Professor Feser completely dismantled my entire political philosophy, but also helped me recognize my issues with the various political systems and policies I've found objectionable for years. Though I am horrified to say it, I... I am now a libertarian.