Limits of State Action (Paperback)

Wilhelm Von Humboldt

ISBN 10: 0865971099 / ISBN 13: 9780865971097

Published by Liberty Fund Inc, Indianapolis, IN, 1993

About this Item

Paperback. The Limits of State Action, by "Germany's greatest philosopher of freedom," as F. A. Hayek called him, has an exuberance and attention to principle that make it a valuable introduction to classical liberal political thought. It is also crucial for an understanding of liberalism as it developed in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Humboldt explores the role that liberty plays in individual development, discusses criteria for permitting the state to limit individual actions, and suggests ways of confining the state to its proper bounds. In so doing, he uniquely combines the ancient concern for human excellence and the modern concern for what has come to be known as negative liberty. Originally published in 1852, this book argues against state promotion of citizen welfare and state interference with private acts. The book is timely, with the US reexamining many of its social policies, and Eastern European countries redesigning their political and social structures. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780865971097

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Limits of State Action (Paperback)
• Publisher: Liberty Fund Inc, Indianapolis, IN
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865971099
• ISBN 13: 9780865971097
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The Limits of State Action has an exuberance and attention to principle that make it a valuable introduction to classical liberal political thought. It is also crucial for an understanding of liberalism as it developed in Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century. Humboldt explores the role that liberty plays in individual development, discusses criteria for permitting the state to limit individual actions, and suggests ways of confining the state to its proper bounds. In so doing, he uniquely combines the ancient concern for human excellence and the modern concern for what has come to be known as negative liberty.

J. W. Burrow is Professor of History at the University of Sussex.

Book Description

This text is important both as one of the most interesting contributions to the liberalism of the German Enlightenment, and as the most significant source for the ideas which John Stuart Mill popularized in his essay On Liberty. Humboldt's concern is to define the criteria by which the permissible limits of the state's activities may be determined.