Economy, Society, and History: A Seminar with Hans-Hermann Hoppe

In books such as Democracy: The God that Failed and A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism, Hoppe has shown that property rights and thus liberty are violated whenever a territorial monopolist on the use of force (i.e., a state) purports to be a more effective provider of goods and services than the market economy. The struggle between this monopolist and property owners forms the theoretical core in Hoppe’s economic and social thought. Topics covered in the week include:

• the philosophical justification of private property
• the implications of ownership for economic science
• the relationship between justice and property
• the political implications of private property
• the meaning of contracts and covenants
• the origin of the state
• the origin and development of society
• the role of natural and artifical elites
• the market for law services and security
• democracy and monarchy
• the viability of secession
• war and imperialism
• the moral urgency of a pure private-propety order
• strategic considerations in libertarian activism.

Readings

• Luigi Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples, and Languages
• Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
• Hans Hermann-Hoppe, Democracy: The God That Failed
• Bertrand De Jouvenel, On Power
• Ludwig von Mises, Socialism
• Franz Oppenheimer, The State
• Carroll Quigley, The Evolution of Civilizations
• Murray N. Rothbard, Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature
• Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology (ed. Robert Carneiro)

SCHEDULE

Monday May 31

• 9:30am shuttle from Commons Dorm/AU Hotel to Mises Institute
• 10:00-11:30 Hoppe 1: The nature of man and the human condition: language, property, and production
• noon-1:00: Joseph Stromberg: “Rothbard on the Warfare State” 
• 1:00-2:00 lunch
• 2:00-3:30 Hoppe 2: The spread of humans around the world; the extension and intensification of the division of labor
• 7:00: Movie: Gangs of New York (2003)

Tuesday June 1

• 10:00-11:30 Hoppe 3: Money and monetary integration; the growth of cities and the globalization of trade
• noon-1:00 lunch
• 2:00-3:30 Hoppe 4: Time preference, capital, technology, and economic growth
• 4:00 Presentation to Hans-Hermann Hoppe of the 2004 Kurzweg Family Award for Liberty, Property, and Responsibility

Wednesday June 2

• 9:30 Shuttle from Commons Dorm to Mises Institute
• 10:00-11:30 Hoppe 5: The wealth of nations: ideology, religion, biology, and environment
• noon - 1:00 Joseph Stromberg: “States, Sovereignty, and History”
• 1:00-2:00 Lunch
• 2:00-3:30 Hoppe 6: The production of law and order: natural order, feudalism, and federalism
• 4:00 Shuttle from Mises Institute to Commons Dorm
• 6:45 Shuttle from Commons Dorm to Mises Institute
• 7:00 Movie: Equilibrium (2002)
• 9:00 Shuttle from Mises Institute to Commons Dorm

Thursday June 3

• 9:30 Shuttle from Commons Dorm to Mises Institute
• 10:00-11:30 Hoppe 7: Parasitism and the origin of the state
• noon - 1:00 Lunch
• 2:00-3:30 Hoppe 8: From monarchy to democracy
• 4:00 Shuttle from Mises Institute to Commons Dorm

Friday June 4

• 9:30 Shuttle from Commons Dorm to Mises Institute
• 10:00-11:30 Hoppe 9: State, war, and imperialism
• noon - 1:00 lunch
• 2:00-3:30 Hoppe 10: Strategy: secession, privatization, and the prospects of liberty
• 4:00 Songs of the Mises Circle; followed by Pizza Party and Movie: Duck Soup
• 5:00 Shuttle from Mises Institute to Commons Dorm
• 7:00 Shuttle from Mises Institute to Commons Dorm