|
Prologue
and Table of Contents
In disquisitions of every kind there are certain
primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasonings must
depend….Of the same nature, are those maxims in ethics and politics, that
there cannot be an effect without a cause.
Alexander Hamilton 1754-1804
Revolutionary,
first
U.S.
secretary of the treasury
The Federalist No.
31
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the
world
with fools.
Herbert Spencer 1820-1903
Philosopher, essayist
The place had an overwhelming presence of literature, and you couldn’t
help but lose
your passion for dumbness.
Bob Dylan 1941-
Singer, songwriter
There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could
believe in
them.
George Orwell 1903-1950
Novelist, social critic
There is not one of our simple uncounted rights today for which better
men than we are
have not died on the scaffold or the battlefield.
We
have not only a
great treasure; we have a great cause.
Winston Churchill 1874-1965
Prime Minister of
Great Britain
1940-1945, 1950-1955
History is mankind’s painfully purchased
experience, now available for free, or merely the price of attention and
reflection.
Thomas Sowell 1930-
Economist and social critic
12
Man cannot make principles; he can only discover
them.
Government, even in its best state, is but a
necessary evil; in its
worst state, an intolerable one.
An army of principles can penetrate where an army
of soldiers cannot.
Thomas Paine 1737-1809
Revolutionary, essayist
13
_______________________________________________________________________
Table of Contents
(Note: to go to a specific section or chapter navigate by means of the
menu bar at the top of any page.)
Author's Note: The Wildebeest
Effect
3
Foreword: James A. Baker,
III
6
Prologue
12
Introduction-Welcome to First
Principles
14
Self-governance in an Open Society: First
Principles
22
Book Synopses
A Note on Organization
51
(To display a synopsis click on the Book Synopses icon in the menu bar at the
top of any
page,
then click on any of the three synopses sections [Reading Sequence, Author,
Title],
then click on any chapter number, author, or title to display the synopsis
itself.)
Section
I
52
Part 1
The Architecture of a Free Society
Chapter 1 Locke,
John
Second Treatise on Civil
Government
53
Chapter 2 Paine,
Thomas
Common
Sense
57
Chapter 3 Jefferson, Thos., et. al.
Declaration of
Independence
61
Chapter 4 Kirk,
Russell
Roots of American Order,
The
66
Chapter 5 Madison, James, et. al.
Constitution of the United
States
73
Chapter 6 Hamilton, Alex., et. al.
Federalist,
The
88
Part
2
94
Case Studies
Chapter 7 Bastiat,
Frederic
Law,
The
95
Chapter 8 Tocqueville,
Alexis, de Democracy in
America
102
Chapter 9 Acton,
Lord
Essays in the History of
Liberty
109
Chapter 10 Meyer, Frank
S. In
Defense of
Freedom
114
Chapter 11 Pipes,
Richard
Property and
Freedom
119
Chapter 12 Smith,
Adam
Wealth of
Nations
132
Chapter 13 Hayek, F. A.,
von Road to
Serfdom,
The
140
Chapter 14 Hayek, F. A., von
Constitution of Liberty,
The
147
Chapter 15 Jouvenel, Bertrand, de On
Power
153
Section
II
166
Part 1
The 20th Century American Experience
Chapter 16 Edwards,
Lee
Conservative Revolution,
The
168
Chapter 17 Buckley, Wm. F. Jr. Up
From
Liberalism
172
Chapter 18 Goldwater,
Barry Conscience of a
Conservative
177
Chapter 19 Murray,
Charles What
It Means To Be A
Libertarian
182
Chapter 20 Buckley, Wm. F. Jr.
Let Us Talk of Many
Things
186
Chapter 21 McDougall,
Walter Promised Land, Crusader
State
189
Chapter 22 Johnson,
Paul
Modern
Times
195
Part
2
201
Government and the Free Market
Chapter 23 Ropke,
Wilhelm
Economics of the Free
Society
203
Chapter 24 Hazlitt,
Henry
Economics In One
Lesson
212
Chapter 25 Friedman,
Milton
Capitalism and
Freedom
218
Chapter 26 Chamberlain,
John Roots of
Capitalism,
The
224
Chapter 27 Gilder,
George
Wealth and
Poverty
230
Chapter 28 Jouvenel, Bertrand, de
Ethics of Redistribution,
The
241
Chapter 29 Yergin, Daniel, et
al. Commanding Heights,
The
250
Chapter 30 Cornuelle,
Richard Reclaiming
the American
Dream
256
Chapter 31 Murray,
Charles
In Pursuit: Of Happiness and Good
Government
263
Chapter 32 Mises, Ludwig,
von
Socialism
271
Chapter 33 Ropke,
Wilhelm
Humane Economy,
A
276
Chapter 34 Mises, Ludwig,
von Theory of Money and
Credit,
The
286
Section
III
291
Fundamental Inquiries
Chapter 35 Weaver,
Richard
Ideas Have
Consequences
294
Chapter 36 Burke,
Edmund
Reflections On The Revolution in
France
299
Chapter 36 Burke,
Edmund
Portable Edmund Burke,
The
299
Chapter 37 Kirk,
Russell
Conservative Mind,
The
307
Chapter 38 Schumpeter,
Joseph Capitalism, Socialism and
Democracy
312
Chapter 39 Popper,
Karl
Open Society and Its Enemies,
The
319
Chapter 40 Mises, Ludwig,
von Human
Action
329
Chapter 41 Chambers, Whittaker
Witness
335
Chapter 42 Bowden,
Mark
Killing
Pablo
341
Section
IV
344
The Future
Chapter 43 Wattenberg, Ben
J.
Fewer
347
Chapter 44 Sommers, Chris,, et. al. One Nation
Under
Therapy
354
Books Alphabetically by Title
Chapter 25 Capitalism and
Freedom
Friedman,
Milton
218
Chapter 38 Capitalism, Socialism and
Democracy
Schumpeter,
Joseph
312
Chapter 29 Commanding Heights,
The
Yergin, Daniel, et
al.
250
Chapter 2 Common
Sense
Paine,
Thomas
57
Chapter 18 Conscience of a
Conservative
Goldwater,
Barry
177
Chapter 37 Conservative Mind,
The
Kirk,
Russell
307
Chapter 16 Conservative Revolution,
The
Edwards,
Lee
168
Chapter 14 Constitution of Liberty,
The
Hayek, F. A.,
von
147
Chapter 5 Constitution of the United
States
Madison, James, et.
al. 73
Chapter 3 Declaration of
Independence
Jefferson, Thos., et.
al. 61
Chapter 8 Democracy in
America
Tocqueville,
Alexis, de 102
Chapter 24 Economics In One
Lesson
Hazlitt,
Henry
212
Chapter 23 Economics of the Free
Society
Ropke,
Wilhelm
203
Chapter 9 Essays in the History of
Liberty
Acton,
Lord
109
Chapter 28 Ethics of Redistribution,
The
Jouvenel,
Bertrand, de 241
Chapter 6 Federalist,
The
Hamilton, Alex., et.
al.
88
Chapter 43
Fewer
Wattenberg, Ben
J.
347
Chapter 40 Human
Action
Mises, Ludwig,
von
329
Chapter 33 Humane Economy,
A
Ropke,
Wilhelm
276
Chapter 35 Ideas Have
Consequences
Weaver,
Richard
294
Chapter 10 In Defense of
Freedom
Meyer, Frank
S.
114
Chapter 31 In Pursuit: Of Happiness and Good
Government Murray,
Charles
263
Chapter 42 Killing
Pablo
Bowden,
Mark
341
Chapter 7 Law,
The
Bastiat,
Frederic
95
Chapter 20 Let Us Talk of Many
Things
Buckley, Wm. F.
Jr.
186
Chapter 22 Modern
Times
Johnson,
Paul
195
Chapter 15 On
Power
Jouvenel,
Bertrand, de 153
Chapter 44 One Nation Under
Therapy
Sommers, Chris., et. al.
354
Chapter 39 Open Society and Its Enemies,
The
Popper,
Karl
319
Chapter 36 Portable Edmund Burke,
The
Burke,
Edmund
299
Chapter 21 Promised Land, Crusader
State
McDougall,
Walter
189
Chapter 11 Property and
Freedom
Pipes,
Richard
119
Chapter 30 Reclaiming the American
Dream
Cornuelle,
Richard
256
Chapter 36 Reflections On The Revolution in
France
Burke,
Edmund
299
Chapter 13 Road to Serfdom,
The
Hayek, F. A.,
von
140
Chapter 4 Roots of American Order,
The
Kirk,
Russell
66
Chapter 26 Roots of Capitalism,
The
Chamberlain,
John
224
Chapter 1 Second Treatise on Civil
Government
Locke,
John
53
Chapter 32
Socialism
Mises, Ludwig,
von
271
Chapter 34 Theory of Money and Credit,
The
Mises, Ludwig,
von
286
Chapter 17 Up From
Liberalism
Buckley, Wm. F.
Jr.
172
Chapter 27 Wealth and
Poverty
Gilder,
George
230
Chapter 12 Wealth of
Nations
Smith,
Adam
132
Chapter 19 What It Means To Be A
Libertarian
Murray,
Charles
182
Chapter 41
Witness
Chambers,
Whittaker
335
Books Alphabetically by Author
Chapter 9 Acton, Lord
Essays in the History of
Liberty
109
Chapter 7 Bastiat,
Frederic Law,
The
95
Chapter 42 Bowden, Mark
Killing
Pablo
341
Chapter 20 Buckley, Wm. F. Jr. Let
Us Talk of Many
Things
186
Chapter 17 Buckley, Wm. F. Jr. Up
From
Liberalism
172
Chapter 36 Burke, Edmund
Portable
Edmund Burke,
The
299
Chapter 36 Burke, Edmund
Reflections
On The Revolution in
France
299
Chapter 26 Chamberlain, John
Roots
of Capitalism,
The
224
Chapter 41 Chambers, Whittaker Witness
335
Chapter 30 Cornuelle, Richard
Reclaiming the American
Dream
256
Chapter 16 Edwards, Lee
Conservative
Revolution,
The
168
Chapter 25 Friedman, Milton
Capitalism and
Freedom
218
Chapter 27 Gilder, George
Wealth and
Poverty
230
Chapter 18 Goldwater, Barry
Conscience of a
Conservative
177
Chapter 6 Hamilton, Alex., et.
al. Federalist,
The
88
Chapter 14 Hayek, F. A., von
Constitution of Liberty,
The
147
Chapter 13 Hayek, F. A., von
Road to
Serfdom,
The
140
Chapter 24 Hazlitt, Henry
Economics
In One
Lesson
212
Chapter 3 Jefferson, Thos, et.
al. Declaration of
Independence
61
Chapter 22 Johnson, Paul
Modern
Times
195
Chapter 28 Jouvenel, Bertrand, de Ethics of Redistribution,
The
241
Chapter 15 Jouvenel, Bertrand, de On
Power
153
Chapter 37 Kirk, Russell
Conservative Mind,
The
307
Chapter 4 Kirk, Russell
Roots of American Order,
The
66
Chapter 1 Locke, John
Second Treatise on Civil
Government
53
Chapter 5 Madison, James, et.
al. Constitution of the United
States
73
Chapter 21 McDougall, Walter
Promised Land, Crusader
State
189
Chapter 10 Meyer, Frank S.
In
Defense of
Freedom
114
Chapter 40 Mises, Ludwig, von
Human
Action
329
Chapter 32 Mises, Ludwig, von
Socialism
271
Chapter 34 Mises, Ludwig, von
Theory
of Money and Credit,
The
286
Chapter 31 Murray, Charles
In
Pursuit: Of Happiness and Good Government
263
Chapter 19 Murray, Charles
What It
Means To Be A
Libertarian
182
Chapter 2 Paine, Thomas
Common
Sense
57
Chapter 11 Pipes, Richard
Property
and
Freedom
119
Chapter 39 Popper, Karl
Open Society
and Its Enemies,
The
319
Chapter 23 Ropke, Wilhelm
Economics
of the Free
Society
203
Chapter 33 Ropke, Wilhelm
Humane Economy,
A
276
Chapter 38 Schumpeter, Joseph
Capitalism,
Socialism and
Democracy
312
Chapter 12 Smith, Adam
Wealth of
Nations
132
Chapter 44 Sommers, Chris., et. al. One
Nation Under
Therapy
254
Chapter 8 Tocqueville,
Alexis, de Democracy in
America
102
Chapter 43 Wattenberg, Ben J.
Fewer
347
Chapter 35 Weaver, Richard
Ideas
Have
Consequences
294
Chapter 29 Yergin, Daniel, et al.
Commanding Heights,
The
250
Afterword 360
Index of Subject
Matter
372
Index
379
A note regarding particular editions of the books synopsized in First
Principles
409
A note about
footnotes:
The reader
will observe there are few footnotes or annotations in this book.
First Principles is not a
university dissertation, but a primer. As
the manuscript was composed the intention was that quotations and references
would come from the books that are the subjects of the synopses.
In the few cases where mention of other works is made, or where quotes
are derived from other sources, direct attribution is contained in the text
itself.
|
