h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a bit puzzled as to why Ann Rand always gets mentioned in relation to libertarianism, when her writings are not taken particularly seriously by professional philosophers.

The foremost libertarian philosopher was Robert Nozick, whose book "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" is packed full of interesting ideas and challenging arguments. For a work of academic political philosophy it is fairly accessible, and is required reading on most undergraduate contemporary political philosophy courses, where it's usually contrasted with John Rawls' "A Theory of Justice".

I think that ASU has many flaws, and Nozick does misrepresent the views of a number of other philosophers. I don't think his arguments work, but Robert Nozick needs to be mentioned here and is required reading for anyone *seriously* interested in libertarian philosophy.

I quite agree, not only is Nozick more serious but ASU is a cracking read as well - very good fun. And once you've read it, you can read my review of it A641774.

The only reason I mentioned Ayn Rand is because a lot of people know her work, and her philosophy is loosely related to libertarianism. She's just a reference point.

Personally, I think she's on crack.