Champions Of A Free Society: Ideas Of Capitalism's Philosophers And Economists

Champions of a Free Society: Ideas of Capitalism's Philosophers and Economists

ReviewThis wonderful volume brings together some of the most important ideas that serve as capitalism's intellectual infrastructure. Now is the time to give them a hearing again! Professor Younkins has done a marvelous service in making this possible for today's students. -- Lew Rockwell, Ludwig von Mises InstituteChampions of a Free Society is a tour de force of the libertarian and classical liberal movements. Dig into any of these chapters, better yet, all of them, and see a masterfully told story of the history of liberty from days gone by to the modern era. -- Walter E. Block, Loyola University New OrleansEd Younkins has here created an invaluable resource for the interested layman: an eminently readable, largely non-technical survey of influential free-market thinkers. This is a masterful summary of 2,500 years of libertarian and classical liberal thought, from Lao Tzu to Aristotle to Locke to Rand, Mises, and Rothbard. Best of all, the presentation is not narrowly 'economic.' Open this book and you will open your mind to the glory of human flourishing. -- Larry J. Sechrest, Sul Ross UniversityEd Younkins is once again laying the foundations for a return to limited government. He makes accessible the thoughts of the intellectual giants that we all wish we had read but never had the time to and does it in a way that is clear, concise, and informative. Buy an extra copy of this book for your children's government and history teachers. -- Gary Wolfram, Hillsdale CollegeChampions of a Free Society is a compelling story of the evolution and development of liberalism's foundational ideas. In effortlessly readable prose, the author capsulizes the philosophic and economic views of twenty writers on liberty. He handles with ease and understanding the most difficult concepts of metaphysics and epistemology, as well as ethics, political philosophy, and economics. An eye-opening overview concentrated in just a few hundred pages. -- Jerry Kirkpatrick, California State Polytechnic UniversityYounkins provides a superb complement to his earlier book, Capitalism and Commerce. He presents an encyclopedic investigation of the rich intellectual heritage of liberty. This is a thought-provoking journey through the works of great thinkers, past and present. -- Chris Matthew Sciabarra, author of Ayn Rand: The Russian RadicalChampions of a Free Society is a welcome introduction to the nature and history of the modern philosophy of liberty. It should be especially valuable to economists reconciling a preference for freedom with the 'value-free' nature of their science. -- John B. Egger, Towson UniversityRecommended. Two-star review. - Choice, March 2009This book is constructed around great thinkers of the past and present who have been influential in developing the philosophy of freedom. Its main purpose is to provide a survey and overview of the ideas of leading individual philosophers and economists of capitalism who have contributed to developing what might be called the classical liberal or libertarian worldview. Champions of a Free Society endeavors to provide a guide to political and economic thinking about the desirability and construction of a free society that is intelligible to the educated layperson. Edward Younkins provides an historical perspective of the pursuit of political and economic truth. The goal of this book is to present the development of ideas in language that permits generally educated readers to understand and appreciate their significance. The book's chronological approach considers the thinkers and their ideas as they have developed over the course of time. There is much unfulfilled illuminative potential to be found in the ideas of the past and Younkins successfully integrates the ideas of past and current thinkers into a logical contemporary worldview.About the AuthorEdward W. Younkins is professor of accountancy and business administration at Wheeling Jesuit University.