January 26, 2002

Brian Doherty notes that later

Brian Doherty notes that later in his life, Robert Nozick moved away from the anarchistic political theory in Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Nozick thought the State was a symbolic mechanism for channeling "private actions and concerns toward" problems.

Note that the libertarian Doherty doesn't reject Nozick's thinking because he wasn't a "pure" libertarian or classical liberal (if such a demon exists). Anarchy is still an important book, and the vast expanse of his thinking is respected. Compare the tolerant intellectual view of the Right (broadly defined) to the Left. When a former Lefty like David Horowitz passes away, don't expect The Nation to fawn lovingly over his Communist works.

"Anarchist in the Academy"