Socialism: A Logical Introduction

Tackling perhaps the most contentious and socially urgent political movement of the last century, Scott R. Sehon lays bare the arguments for and against socialism, investigating their logical scaffolding and revealing exactly what is assumed in charged and often vital discussions of labor conditions and human well-being. Sehon provides a straightforward presentation and logical analysis of the arguments to make very clear which arguments work, and which do not.

While the book aims to be fair to the arguments from both sides, Sehon ultimately sides with socialism and maintains that the arguments indicate that we should move in a strongly democratic socialist direction. Nearly every contemporary counterclaim to socialism is addressed and interrogated, and even the more dubious arguments in favor of socialism are taken up. Naturally, the defender of capitalism will deny these premises and claim that capitalism better promotes human well-being; many capitalists also claim that socialism does violate individual rights, particularly property rights. The bulk of the book sorts through the data and arguments on both sides, considering arguments from philosophers such as G.A. Cohen, Ronald Dworkin, David Schweickart, John Tomasi, and Jonathan Wolff, as well as prominent economists such as Milton Friedman and F.A. Hayek. The reader of Socialism will find a clear introduction to one of the most crucial social movements of our time.

Scott Sehon is the Joseph E. Merrill Professor of Philosophy at Bowdoin College, where he has been teaching for over 30 years. He is the author of Free Will and Action Explanation: a Non-Causal, Compatibilist Account (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Teleological Realism: Mind, Agency, and Explanation (MIT Press, 2005), and has appeared in such journals as American Philosophical Quarterly and Philosophical Issues. He has also written for Jacobin, Mises Institute: Power & Market Blog, and Aeon.