Published in 1999, this book is a shorter version of Hazlitt’s underappreciated Foundations of Morality. It contains a number of chapters from the book that are framed by an introduction by Leland Yeager. Hazlitt argues that our ethical and moral rules should be judged by the degree to which they forward social cooperation. He is putting forward a form of what Yeager, in his own similar work, has termed “indirect utilitarianism.” Ethical rules are not given by God or a priori reasoning, but by observing practices that have demonstrated their ability to allow humans to flourish by cooperating through the market and other institutions. Hazlitt’s argument here is a brilliant attempt to flesh out the ethical implications of Mises’s Human Action and this shorter version makes his work that much more accessible.
Also from the FEE Library
A Bibliography on The Voluntary Society by F.A. Harper
F.A. “Baldy” Harper’s reference list: A Bibliography on the Voluntary Society: 100 Selected Titles in Economics, History, and Philosophy.
Cliches of Socialism Number 50 by Dean Russell
“Nobody is worth a million dollars.”
Why Liberty by Pierre F. Goodrich by Pierre F. Goodrich
Why Liberty? by Pierre F. Goodrich. A pamphlet on the importance of liberty from businessmen and founder of Liberty Fund, Inc. Pierre F. Goodrich. Written for the 1958 Mont Pelerin Society Meeting in Princeton, NJ.
I, Pencil by Leonard E. Read
“Eloquent. Extraordinary. Timeless. Paradigm-shifting. Classic. Half a century after it first appeared, Leonard Read’s ‘I, Pencil’ still evokes such adjectives of praise. Rightfully so, for this little essay opens eyes and minds among people of all ages. Many first-time readers never see the world quite the same again.” -Lawrence W. Reed
Clichés of Socialism Number 32 by Leonard E. Read
“We never had it so good.”
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