Against the State

Crispin Sartwell is Associate Professor of Political Science at Dickinson College and the author of several books, including Obscenity, Anarchy, Reality and Extreme Virtue: Truth and Leadership in Five Great American Lives, both also published by SUNY Press.

• acknowledgmentspart I. preliminaries introduction1. some definitionspart II. the legitimacy of the state 2. social contract3. utilitarian justifications of state power4. justicial justifications of state powerpart III. toward something else 5. silhouette of an anarchismnotesindex

"Sartwell's work stands in the Thoreauvian tradition he admires—simultaneously lyrical and plainspoken, intensely personal yet theoretically compelling. Transcending the hackneyed opposition between individualist and communitarian approaches to politics, Sartwell's spirited, engaging, and insightful critique of the state reminds us of the essentially barbarous nature of that institution, forcefully engages the classic arguments on its behalf, and makes a vigorous and inspiring case for a humane anarchist alternative." — Roderick T. Long, Auburn University"Sartwell is unabashed and unrelenting in pointing out the unquestioned absurdities at the foundation of the state's legitimacy. His refusal to accept any assumption on faith or to turn away from logical conclusions is the book's greatest strength." — Dana Ward, coauthor of Political Reasoning and Cognition: A Piagetian View