Herbert Spencer on the pitfalls
of arguing with friends at the dinner table (1897)
The English radical individualist philosopher Herbert
Spencer (1820-1903) wisely counsels
silence when arguing
with others at the dinner table. Sometimes it may be fit and proper to
blow one's own horn. At other times biting one's tongue when a family
member says something foolish or incorrect is the best way to promote
"social intercourse":
Over the dinner table, or in groups of persons otherwise held together,
there frequently occur cases in which an erroneous statement is made or
an invalid argument urged. One who recognizes the error may either display
his superior knowledge or superior logic, or he may let the error pass
in silence: not wishing to raise the estimate of himself at the cost of
lowering the estimate of another. Which shall he do? A proper decision
implies several considerations. Is the wrong statement or invalid argument
one which will do appreciable mischief if it passes uncorrected? Is the
person who utters it vain, or one whose self-esteem is excessive? Is he
improperly regarded as an authority by those around? Does he trample down
others in the pursuit of applause? If to some or all of these questions
the answer is–Yes, the correction may fitly be made; alike for the
benefit of the individual himself and for the benefit of hearers. But should
the error be trivial, or should the credit of one who makes it, not higher
than is proper, be unduly injured by the exposure, or should his general
behavior in social intercourse be of a praiseworthy kind, then sympathy
may fitly dictate silence–negative beneficence may rightly restrain
the natural desire to show superiority.
Wealth, Commerce, & Corruption in Hume, Smith, & Ferguson
(There are currently 86 Reading Lists)
Create your own customized & annotated Reading
Lists of OLL material for college courses
and other purposes by signing
up as an Editor. See the User
Guide & subscribe to the RSS.
Emer
de Vattel, The Law of
Nations, Or, Principles of the Law of Nature,
Applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations
and Sovereigns (1797)
The great eighteenth-century
theorist of international law Emer
de Vattel (1714–1767) was a key figure in sustaining
the practical and theoretical influence of
natural jurisprudence through the Revolutionary
and Napoleonic eras. Coming toward the end
of the period when the discourse of natural
law was dominant in European political theory,
Vattel’s contribution is cited as a major
source of contemporary wisdom on questions
of international law in the American Revolution
and even by opponents of revolution, such as
Cardinal Consalvi, at the Congress of Vienna
of 1815. Vattel broadly accepted the early-modern
natural law theorists from Grotius onward but
placed himself in the tradition of Leibniz
and Christian Wolff. This becomes particularly
clear in two valuable early essays that have
never before been translated and are included
in the present volume. On this philosophical
basis he established what the proper relationship
should be between natural law as it is applied
to individuals and natural law as it is applied
to states. The significance of The
Law of Nations resides in its distillation from natural law
of an apt model for international conduct of
state affairs that carried conviction in both
the Old Regime and the new political order
of 1789–1815. The Liberty Fund edition
is based on the anonymous English translation
of 1797, which includes Vattel’s notes
for the second French edition (posthumous,
1773).
The Autumn/Winter 2009 Liberty Fund Books Catalog is now available.
Among Liberty Fund’s activities is the
publication of new, authoritative editions of classic
works which explore some aspect
of the interrelationship of liberty and responsibility
in individual life, society, governance, or economics. Liberty Fund books are beautifully
produced, adhere to rigorous standards of scholarship, and can be found in many personal
and academic libraries around the world.
[See our collection of previous LF Books Catalog covers]
Where to Begin?
In a library of this size it is sometimes a bit daunting to know
where to begin reading. We suggest starting
with the one volume overview of the classical
liberal tradition by Ludwig
von Mises,
Liberalism: The Classical Tradition (2005) or
by sampling some of the books in these
collections:
Please include your snail mail (i.e. postal) address with your request.
Obituary
Max Hartwell (1921-2009)
We are sad to note the passing
in March of Ronald
Max Hartwell who was one of the greatest economic historians of
the industrial revolution. Beginning his career in a small town in
country New South Wales, Australia he later moved to Oxford University
where he spent his academic life at Nuffield College. Hartwell challenged
the Marxist orthodoxy which argued that the Industrial Revolution was
largely a disaster for the working class. On the contrary, Hartwell
urged, it lead to the greatest expansion of wealth for ordinary people
that the world has ever seen. He was interviewed by
Patrick O'Brien in one of Liberty Fund's
Intellectual
Portrait Series in 2000. A DVD of this interview can be
purchased,
the audio track is available online in
various formats, or one can listen online here:
Quartercentennial
of the Publication of Shakespeare's Sonnets (1609)
The following institutions, books and authors
should be remembered this year for having
reached a significant milestone. [More
on the terminology used.]
The Online Library of Liberty celebrates the quinquennial of its
launch in March 2004. [See more Milestones in
its history.]
Anniversaries of the publication of important books [More
about finding Books]:
A Multi-award
Winning Website in the Humanities and Social Sciences
The OLL has won a number of international
awards for its outstanding collection of online
material in the humanities and social sciences:
National Endowment for the Humanities - "Best
of the Humanities on the Web" Awards (2006)
British Arts & Humanities Research Council
- "Editor's Choice" Award
(2007)
International Political Science Association
- one of the top 300 websites for political science
(2007)
The Audio Online Library of Liberty
The OLL in audio format
The OLL has a number of its titles in audio
format to listen to on a portable player,
such as an iPod, and to assist the vision
impaired in using some of the resources
on the website. Beginning with the Intellectual
Portrait Series and the The
Legacy of Hayek we have expanded
our program in 2009 to include an audio
version of the weekly Quotations
about Liberty and Power and a pilot project to
explore whole audio book versions of some
of our titles. Read about our program, listen to our books, and tell
us about your
experiences in using them.
ePub Pilot Project
The OLL launches an ePub Pilot Project
The OLL has begun an ePub Pilot Project to explore the possibilites of this open format for publishing and reading ebooks on portable devices. Download our files and tell us about your experiences in using them.
MARC Records
The Online Library of Liberty Series at WorldCat
All new titles added to the Online Library of Liberty include a MARC Record (as of October, 2007). These Marc Records are part of a collection known as the Online Library of Liberty Series at WorldCat. Our MARC records can be downloaded from the book's table of contents page or from this page.
We have identified and replaced some corrupted MARC records in our batch files.
Other Resources in the OLL
The OLL contains many resources to use in teaching and learning about Liberty.
The Online
Library of Liberty (OLL) is a project of Liberty
Fund, Inc., a private, non-profit educational foundation based
in Indianapolis, Indiana. The aim of the OLL is to provide thousands
of titles about individual liberty, limited constitutional government,
and the free market, free of charge to the public, for educational
purposes. [Above is our "amagi" logo
- the earliest written expression of the word "freedom".]
The OLL is divided into two parts: The Forum which contains educational material about the books and authors (see the User Guide), and The Library which contains classic books about liberty (see the User Guide).
Other Liberty Fund Sites
Liberty Fund's Online Book Catalog
Liberty Fund's main website hosts an extensive online book catalog where the books published by Liberty Fund can be purchased.
The Library of Economics and Liberty
Liberty Fund also has a website devoted entirely to economics, The Library of Economics and Liberty (Econlib). It contains classic economic books, an online encyclopedia of economics, articles discussing current economic topics, a moderated blog (Econlog) where economic issues are discussed, and a collection of podcasts (EconTalk).
