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Readings on Self-Government and Liberty
This List Is By:
Hans Eicholz
Liberty Fund, Inc.
Topic
The purpose of this reading list is to provide a general introduction to the various meanings that have been associated with the concept of self-government both in its political sense of self-determination of a people and in the personal sense of individual liberty.
How these concepts have been reconciled has taken many different forms. Of particular interest is how the debate gradually came to focus on the nature of the individual and his or her capcity to exercise personal responsibility as a necessary part of a limited polity where power is constrained and liberty preserved.
9.: How is the end to be realized? - Aristotle, The Nicomachean Ethics [1893]
Aristotle, The Nichomachean Ethics of Aristotle, trans. F.H. Peters, M.A. 5th edition (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Truebner & Co., 1893). Chapter: 9.: How is the end to be realized?
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/903/70868 on 2007-12-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session 1: Self-Government Among the Ancients
Aristotle, The Politics of Aristotle, trans. into English with introduction, marginal analysis, essays, notes and indices by B. Jowett. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1885. 2 vols. Vol. 1. Chapter: BOOK I.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/579/75395 on 2007-12-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session 1: Self-Government Among the Ancients
Aristotle, The Politics of Aristotle, trans. into English with introduction, marginal analysis, essays, notes and indices by B. Jowett. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1885. 2 vols. Vol. 1. Chapter: BOOK II.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/579/75396 on 2007-12-06
The text is in the public domain.
BOOK IV. - Aristotle, The Politics vol. 1 [320 BC]
Aristotle, The Politics of Aristotle, trans. into English with introduction, marginal analysis, essays, notes and indices by B. Jowett. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1885. 2 vols. Vol. 1. Chapter: BOOK IV.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/579/75398 on 2007-12-06
The text is in the public domain.
Session 1: Self-Government Among the Ancients
Aristotle, The Politics of Aristotle, trans. into English with introduction, marginal analysis, essays, notes and indices by B. Jowett. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1885. 2 vols. Vol. 1. Chapter: BOOK V.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/579/75399 on 2007-12-06
The text is in the public domain.
ANTIGONE. - Sophocles, The Tradegies of Sophocles [1904]
Sophocles, The Tradegies of Sophocles, translated into English prose by Sir Richard C. Jebb (Cambridge University Press, 1904). Chapter: ANTIGONE.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/1155/94542 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
CHAPTER XIII.: of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their felicity, and misery. - Thomas Hobbes, The English Works, vol. III (Leviathan) [1651]
Thomas Hobbes, The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury; Now First Collected and Edited by Sir William Molesworth, Bart., (London: Bohn, 1839-45). 11 vols. Vol. 3. Chapter: CHAPTER XIII.: of the natural condition of mankind as concerning their felicity, and misery.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/585/89842 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
CHAP. II.: It is unnatural for the People to Govern, or Chose Governours. - Sir Robert Filmer, Patriarchia, or the Natural Power of Kings [1680]
Sir Robert Filmer, Patriarchia; of the Natural Power of Kings. By the Learned Sir Robert Filmer Baronet (London: Richard Chiswell, 1680). Chapter: CHAP. II.: It is unnatural for the People to Govern, or Chose Governours.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/221/45523 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
CHAP. II. Of the State of Nature. - John Locke, The Two Treatises of Civil Government (Hollis ed.) [1689]
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, ed. Thomas Hollis (London: A. Millar et al., 1764). Chapter: CHAP. II. Of the State of Nature.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/222/16245 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 4: Human Nature and the State
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, ed. Thomas Hollis (London: A. Millar et al., 1764). Chapter: CHAP. V. Of PROPERTY.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/222/16269 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
chapter seven: On Hobbes - Benjamin Constant, Principles of Politics Applicable to All Governments [1815]
Benjamin Constant, Principles of Politics Applicable to a all Governments, trans. Dennis O’Keeffe, ed. Etienne Hofmann, Introduction by Nicholas Capaldi (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003). Chapter: chapter seven: On Hobbes
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/861/108867 on 2007-12-07
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
A DISCOURSE on a subject proposed by the academy of dijon: what is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorised by natural law ? - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract and Discourses [1761]
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract and Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, translated with an Introduction by G.D. H. Cole (London and Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons, 1923). Chapter: A DISCOURSE on a subject proposed by the academy of dijon: what is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorised by natural law ?
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/638/71084 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 5: Sovereignty and Human Nature
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ideal Empires and Republics. Rousseau’s Social Contract, More’s Utopia, Bacon’s New Atlantis, Campanella’s City of the Sun, with an Introduction by Charles M. Andrews (Washington: M. Walter Dunne, 1901). Chapter: CHAPTER VI.: The Social Pact.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/2039/145431 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 5: Sovereignty and Human Nature
Benjamin Constant, Principles of Politics Applicable to a all Governments, trans. Dennis O’Keeffe, ed. Etienne Hofmann, Introduction by Nicholas Capaldi (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2003). Chapter: chapter five: That Rousseau’s Error Comes from His Wanting to Distinguish the Prerogatives of Society from Those of the Government
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/861/108863 on 2007-12-07
The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by Liberty Fund, Inc.
XV.: COMMON SENSE.1 - Thomas Paine, The Writings of Thomas Paine, Vol. I (1774-1779) [1774]
Thomas Paine, The Writings of Thomas Paine, Collected and Edited by Moncure Daniel Conway (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894). Vol. 1. Chapter: XV.: COMMON SENSE.1
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/343/17023 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 6: The Sources of Order and Self-Government in Civil Society
Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution. (2nd edition) by Thomas Paine (London: J.S. Jordan, 1791). Chapter: RIGHTS OF MAN, &c. &c.
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/798/95650 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 6: The Sources of Order and Self-Government in Civil Society
Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 2. Chapter: to robert skipwith
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/755/86018 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
First Draft - Thomas Jefferson, The Works, vol. 2 (1771-1779) [1905]
Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 2. Chapter: First Draft
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/755/86069 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
Session 6: The Sources of Order and Self-Government in Civil Society
Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 2. Chapter: A SUMMARY VIEW OF THE RIGHTS OF BRITISH AMERICA. SET FORTH IN SOME RESOLUTIONS
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/755/86029 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
QUERY XVIII The particular customs and manners that may happen to be received in that State? - Thomas Jefferson, The Works, vol. 4 (Notes on Virginia II, Correspondence 1782-1786) [1905]
Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 4. Chapter: QUERY XVIII The particular customs and manners that may happen to be received in that State?
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/756/86252 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.
QUERY XIII The constitution of the State and its several charters? - Thomas Jefferson, The Works, vol. 4 (Notes on Virginia II, Correspondence 1782-1786) [1905]
Thomas Jefferson, The Works of Thomas Jefferson, Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 4. Chapter: QUERY XIII The constitution of the State and its several charters?
Accessed from oll.libertyfund.org/title/756/86247 on 2007-12-07
The text is in the public domain.