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The Right to Ignore the State

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About this book

Consent, taxation and the limits of majority rule drive Herbert Spencer's argument for voluntary withdrawal from government. Starting from a principle of equal freedom, he claims that individuals may refuse the state's protection and financial demands, provided they respect the liberty of others. He treats government as an agent whose authority depends on those who employ it, then tests whether a majority can rightly impose its will on a dissenting minority.

This pamphlet reprints a chapter from the 1850 edition of Social Statics. Its editorial note points out that Spencer omitted the chapter from his revised edition of 1892. Within the argument, religious dissent supplies a comparison for civil liberty: freedom of worship and freedom in other affairs rest on the same principle.

About the author

Herbert Spencer

Herbert Spencer assembled an ambitious philosophical system linking psychology, sociology, ethics, biology, and political thought. Born in Derby in 1820, he trained as a civil engineer before journalism and independent scholarship became his principal work.