Comments (20)

• Tibor R. Machan

• Two points. The comment that "much of [Rand's] thought is dubious" is the kind of ex cathedra remark unbecoming of a scholar. Why is it dubious, in a word or two? By whom is it doubted--someone worth respect or some two bit amateur?
  Secondly, after having been a adjunct scholar at the Mises Institute for almost 20 years and having made presentations at half a dozen Austrian Scholars Confernces, plus having produced 32 books with editing another twenty, most of which focus on the case for the free society, excluding me from the list (with others with far fewer volumes doing far less formidable jobs prominently featured) is a slap in my face for which I deserve an apology. I am not a vain man but I do know the worth of my own works and Gordon's blatant offense is difficult to view as anything other than a deliberate insult.

• Published: June 15, 2005 10:03 AM

• David Gordon

• I am sorry to have offended Professor Machan, but I can assure him that I did not deliberately reject him from my list. Neither was my list intended as a rating scale: I don't at all think that every book on my list is superior to any book not included. The books and articles by him that have come my way seem to me valuable; but when I compiled the list several years ago, his name didn't come to mind.

  The comment on Rand is of course my own opinion, and I am at a loss to know why Professor Machan thinks I ought not to have expressed it. Robert Nozick's "On The Randian Argument" seems to me a good place to start if he wishes to know the basis of my view. I don't think that Rasmussen and Den Uyl's well-known rejoinder successfully responds to Nozick's points.

  One is glad to know that Professor Machan is not a vain man.

  
  

• Published: June 15, 2005 11:03 AM

• Michael Hignite

• May I add to your list:

  Lane, Rose Wilder. "The Discovery of Freedom" One of my all-time favorites. Simple, well-written, very readable and dead-on for liberty.

• Published: June 15, 2005 11:09 AM

• Jeffrey

• I might add too that David Gordon is writing a full-scale book on the 100 great books of liberty, complete with a study guide. It is a different list because it serves a different purpose. Ayn Rand is on the list with Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. In addition, Gordon has given a very favorable review of Machan's latest work in the Mises Review, a review not yet published or online.
  

• Published: June 15, 2005 11:30 AM

• Mike

• David Gordon said many of the books were available online. Looking at the mises.org website one can find no evidence of books by Machan. Either mises.org bigwigs think so little of Machan's books that they didn't put them on the site, or Machan is more concerned with revenues, so he isn't prepared to put his works on the internet for free. Either way, it is safe to assume that there is not much of outstanding value in his work, and Machan is completely unjustified in claiming that he should have been on the list - a very vain, trumped up little bastard indeed.

• Published: June 15, 2005 12:26 PM

• NCA

• The danger in creating lists is that you could include every book ever published, unpublished, hastily scribbled on a legal pad or drunkenly scrawled on a cocktail napkin, still run the non-comprehensive disclaimer, and somebody would still be outraged

  that said, I have two recommendations: Measure for Measure and Coriolanus, both plays (admittedly not books, but come on) by Shakespeare, both superb character studies, and both unsettlingly relevant -- particularly Coriolanus, of which the famous English critic William Hazlitt once said: "Any one who studies it may save himself the trouble of reading Burke's Reflections, or Paine's Rights of Man, or the Debates in both Houses of Parliament since the French Revolution or our own. The arguments for and against aristocracy or democracy, on the privileges of the few and the claims of the many, on liberty and slavery, power and the abuse of it, peace and war, are here very ably handled, with the spirit of a poet and the acuteness of a philosopher."

• Published: June 15, 2005 12:58 PM

• Adam Odorizzi

• Fantastic. Keep up the good work.

  If it makes you feel any better, Prof. Machan, I think you're the bomb...

• Published: June 15, 2005 2:52 PM

• Tibor R. Machan

• Mike writes: "Either mises.org bigwigs think so little of Machan's books that they didn't put them on the site, or Machan is more concerned with revenues, so he isn't prepared to put his works on the internet for free. Either way, it is safe to assume that there is not much of outstanding value in his work, and Machan is completely unjustified in claiming that he should have been on the list - a very vain, trumped up little bastard indeed." Anyone who thinks I hide my work for mercenary reasons must be living on Mars--I don't hide them, nor do they garner a lot of dough. (Just Google me and you will see.)

• Published: June 15, 2005 3:39 PM

• Lowell R.

• Firstly, Mike, your comment that Tibor Machan "is completely unjustified in claiming that he should have been on the list" and is "a very vain, trumped up little bastard indeed" is not only deplorable, but also indicative of a frightening ignorance. Machan's works are masterful -- Putting Humans First, especially, breaks more new philosophical ground in 200-some pages than any other contemporary libertarian work I can think of, and is one of the VERY few anti-animal rights books in print today, and his work on property rights is also superb.

  Having said that, lists like this shouldn't -- and needn't -- be taken too seriously, except for entertainment value. A quick visit to Mises.org's bookstore or to LFB.com will quickly reveal the breadth and depth of libertarian thought in print today. I, personally, would have added at least one of Rand's essay collections, which have contributed much to the cultural conversations on capitalism, and something from Machan and D. Friedman, but...

• Published: June 15, 2005 4:04 PM

• tarran

• Of course, if one is unhappy with the list, one can always make their own list, and compete in the marketplace of ideas. ;)

• Published: June 15, 2005 4:21 PM

• Alex

• I enjoyed reading Tibor's analysis on things, and I'm surprised that he didn't make it on the list once.

  While I'm hardly representing the Mises Institute, it's a shame that Tibor's feathers were ruffled; I've chatted with him several times over the subject of animal rights, and if anything, he's a very reasonable, wordly, and fun fellow to talk with.

  Irregardless of what Gordon says (BTW I enjoy his articles as well) most everyone in the classical liberal and libertarian movement knows of Tibor's contributions, especially on the animal rights debate.

  Hopefully no feelings were hurt..

  
  

• Published: June 15, 2005 6:37 PM

• Ken Mathews

• I hope you will try get your list into the hands of the young. Can you imagine comparing the educational quality of your list of works against the typical high school textbooks in economics, sociology, history, political science, etc. How about a list of out-of-print books on liberty that deserve to be returned to publication, it would make fine second volume for your planned book?

• Published: June 15, 2005 7:19 PM

• Geoffrey Allan Plauche

• Not that David Gordon is wrong or that Ayn Rand got everything completely right, but I would like to see him explain just what it is that he thinks is dubious about Rand's thought. Perhaps he will do so in his projected book?

• Published: June 15, 2005 7:52 PM

• Bob

• Where can one read Machan's books on the Internet?

• Published: June 15, 2005 10:05 PM

• P

• How about Max Stirner's The Ego and his Property?

• Published: June 15, 2005 11:42 PM

• MCLA

• One is indeed glad to know that Professor Machan is not a vain man.

• Published: June 16, 2005 9:07 AM

• Neil Parille

• Concerning Ayn Rand, Dr. Gordon's review of John Robbins' book on Ayn Rand might give some insight into what he believes to be problems in her work.

  http://www.mises.org/misesreview_detail.asp?control=41&sortorder=issue

  I think Erik von K-L and Eric Voegelin should be on the list.

• Published: June 16, 2005 7:56 PM

• Tibor R. Machan

• Thank you, David, for adding two of my books to your distinguished list. The down side is that now I am bordering on becoming vain!)

• Published: June 17, 2005 5:27 AM

• Geoffrey Allan Plauche

• Thanks for the link, Neil.

• Published: June 17, 2005 9:44 AM

• Dan Mahoney

• Randians.

• Published: June 17, 2005 11:42 AM