Bruno Leoni was surely the most important Italian free market thinker of the second half of the 20th century. Here we have an outstanding analysis of the relationship between law and freedom, one that follows up on Bastiat and, many argue, exceeds Hayek in rigor and consistency. Leoni explains the features of law under freedom and show how the
[Bruno Leoni (1913–1967), an Italian classical-liberal political philosopher and attorney, was a professor at the University of Pavia, president of the Mont Pèlerin Society, and author of Freedom and the Law, expanded 3d ed. (Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 1991 [1961]). This paper was originally published in English, under the same title in Il
[Chapter 5, Freedom and the Law ] The rule of law, in the classical sense of the expression, cannot be maintained without actually securing the certainty of the law, conceived as the possibility of long-run planning on the part of individuals in regard to their behavior in private life and business. Moreover, we cannot base the rule of law on
The interest of scholars in the application of mathematics to the social sciences is particularly lively at the present time. This is especially true in economics, as well as in such allied disciplines as econometrics and economic statistics. And yet, critical works by economists on methodological problems remain rare, as witness the fact that
You may have noticed that I put a question mark after the title of this paper. I must explain why. When our friend professor Matsushita suggested this subject for our Tokyo meeting, my first impulse was to object to it. No doubt, I took it for granted that there are “Oriental” and “Occidental” people. Besides, I knew that many people
May I start by summarizing professor Hart’s essay in a few words. On one hand the author analyses the concept of law by resorting first to the classical concept of “obligation.” On the other, he tries a “fresh start” by resorting, later on in his analysis, to the concept of “secondary rules” and puts an emphasis on the concept of “legal order”
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.
