Robert Nozick

Robert Nozick was an American philosopher who made significant contributions to political philosophy, ethics, and metaphysics. Nozick is perhaps best known for his philosophical work, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, which remains a major influence in contemporary political thought.

Nozick was born on November 16, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in a Jewish family and had an Orthodox religious upbringing. He studied philosophy at Columbia University, later earning a Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1963. Nozick was a professor at Harvard for the majority of his academic career, beginning in 1969 and lasting until 2002. He was also a visiting professor at Yale and Oxford.

Nozick's first book, Anarchy, State, and Utopia was published in 1974 and was widely praised for it’s original ideas and theoretical contributions. The central argument of the book is Nozick’s objection to government interference, ranging from taxation to other forms of socioeconomic intervention. He argued that individuals ought to be allowed to pursue opportunities as they see fit and should not be subject to coercion by the state. Nozick also argued that not only should the state not interfere, but it should also remain impartial when it comes to the allocation of resources and the distribution of wealth. His book made Nozick a central figure in the libertarian movement and a highly influential figure in the libertarianism ideology.

Similarly to his position in political philosophy, Nozick also argued for individualism and freedom in his ethical philosophy. In particular, he put forward an ethics of autonomy, which is that moral values should be self chosen and not imposed from the outside. In his book, The Examined Life, Nozick proposed that an agent makes ethical decisions by examining their own preferences, rather than relying on external criteria. He suggested that people should “create themselves” and take control of their own lives and values.

In addition to his contributions to political philosophy and ethics, Nozick also made significant contributions to the field of metaphysics. His book, Philosophical Explanations, examines such topics as personal identity, the nature of reality and causation, and the nature of God. His book puts forward a theory of “causal explanation”, in which he argues that causation is not a fundamental feature of reality, and that events may be explained without resorting to cause and effect.

Robert Nozick was an important and influential figure in philosophy. His work on political philosophy, ethics, and metaphysics has had a big impact on philosophical thinking and continues to be cited and discussed by contemporary philosophers. Nozick was an advocate of individualism, autonomy, and freedom and his philosophical works addressed some of the most pressing issues in contemporary ethical, political, and metaphysical thought.