The objective of Against Politics is not to promote a narrow political perspective but to identify obstacles to rational conduct and peaceful human interaction such as ideologies and (electoral) politics. Disciplines such as evolutionary biology, (classical) economics, and decision theory are explored to understand what gives rise to the growth and persistence of government, and what undermines it.
When Against Politics was launched in the year 2000 its purpose was to promote (strong) contractarianism in moral philosophy and philosophical anarchism. In particular, the website made available biographical and bibliographical information on writers like David Gauthier, Jan Narveson, and Anthony de Jasay. Against Politics also made an effort to organize and systematize (online) writings on related topics such as dispute resolution without the state and polycentric law.
Over time the need for such a website diminished as many of these articles were collected in books and/or referenced in Wikipedia entries. In addition, in 2004 the Liberales Institute created a website for Anthony de Jasay to present his writings to the general public. Instead of continuously revising and updating the contents of the website to reflect these developments, Against Politics was relaunched in 2008 as a blog with the aim of generating original content inspired by those interests and to explore new interests.
For a selection of representative blog posts, click here. For a list of 15 book recommendations that reflect the outlook of this website, click here.
The name of this website is a tribute to Anthony de Jasay, the most important social philosopher of our time. The motto of this website (‘Anarchy Naturalized’) is inspired by Willard Van Orman Quine’s seminal article (‘Epistemology Naturalized’) and indicates a similar approach to ethics and social philosophy.
Contact: againstpoliticsATgmail.com