An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law
Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) is an important but oft-neglected figure of 19th-century American political philosophy. He was a lawyer, entrepreneur, and political essayist. Ideologically, he was an individualist anarchist, abolitionist, and an exponent of the labor movement and free market. He was al...
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Istanbul University Press
2023-06-01
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| Series: | İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası |
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| author | Muzaffer Dülger |
| author_facet | Muzaffer Dülger |
| author_sort | Muzaffer Dülger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Lysander Spooner (1808-1887) is an important but oft-neglected figure of 19th-century American political philosophy. He was a lawyer, entrepreneur, and political essayist. Ideologically, he was an individualist anarchist, abolitionist, and an exponent of the labor movement and free market. He was also a natural law theorist who developed forceful arguments on behalf of an individualistic conception of natural law philosophy and private property rights in opposition to authoritarian governments, state-interventionism, legislative and taxative activities, and all forms of paternalism, whether moral, legal, or political. Thus, he stood generally between the two main philosophical positions of natural law philosophy and of a radically individualistic type of anarchism. As a result of his unique philosophical character, he became a highly influential figure among contemporary libertarians and anarcho-capitalists, and his books and pamphlets have also served as rather convenient sources for understanding and analyzing the libertarian legal theory, as well as its outcomes and claims regarding contemporary legal matters. However, he neither wrote any systematic treatise nor try to develop any systematic philosophy. Although he did write various works on law, he was unable to gather his views within a systematic work. This study’s purpose is to generally disclose Spooner’s conception of law through some of his legal views dispersed among his various book chapters and pamphlets and to reveal this conceptualization’s connection to natural law philosophy by concentrating on his thoughts regarding certain fundamental legal concepts such as justice, constitution, right, property, and crime. Specifically, this work will concentrate on discussing Spooner’s naturalistic answer to the question of what is law and will address in connection with this answer the true meanings of crime and property he held in his mind. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8f739764734547c997f654aaaf4e8217 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2667-6974 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | Istanbul University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası |
| spelling | doaj-art-8f739764734547c997f654aaaf4e82172025-08-20T02:15:32ZengIstanbul University Pressİstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası2667-69742023-06-0181250752910.26650/mecmua.2023.81.2.0007123456An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of LawMuzaffer Dülger0Sakarya Üniversitesi, Sakarya, TürkiyeLysander Spooner (1808-1887) is an important but oft-neglected figure of 19th-century American political philosophy. He was a lawyer, entrepreneur, and political essayist. Ideologically, he was an individualist anarchist, abolitionist, and an exponent of the labor movement and free market. He was also a natural law theorist who developed forceful arguments on behalf of an individualistic conception of natural law philosophy and private property rights in opposition to authoritarian governments, state-interventionism, legislative and taxative activities, and all forms of paternalism, whether moral, legal, or political. Thus, he stood generally between the two main philosophical positions of natural law philosophy and of a radically individualistic type of anarchism. As a result of his unique philosophical character, he became a highly influential figure among contemporary libertarians and anarcho-capitalists, and his books and pamphlets have also served as rather convenient sources for understanding and analyzing the libertarian legal theory, as well as its outcomes and claims regarding contemporary legal matters. However, he neither wrote any systematic treatise nor try to develop any systematic philosophy. Although he did write various works on law, he was unable to gather his views within a systematic work. This study’s purpose is to generally disclose Spooner’s conception of law through some of his legal views dispersed among his various book chapters and pamphlets and to reveal this conceptualization’s connection to natural law philosophy by concentrating on his thoughts regarding certain fundamental legal concepts such as justice, constitution, right, property, and crime. Specifically, this work will concentrate on discussing Spooner’s naturalistic answer to the question of what is law and will address in connection with this answer the true meanings of crime and property he held in his mind.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/1FBDF285037A4A0EBF60D0A552E5DC37lysander spoonernatural lawanarchismindividualismlibertarianism |
| spellingShingle | Muzaffer Dülger An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law İstanbul Hukuk Mecmuası lysander spooner natural law anarchism individualism libertarianism |
| title | An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law |
| title_full | An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law |
| title_fullStr | An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law |
| title_short | An Anarcho-Individualistic Remark on Natural Law: Lysander Spooner and His Theory of Law |
| title_sort | anarcho individualistic remark on natural law lysander spooner and his theory of law |
| topic | lysander spooner natural law anarchism individualism libertarianism |
| url | https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/1FBDF285037A4A0EBF60D0A552E5DC37 |
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