Property, Freedom & Society

Edward Stringham

From criticizing democracy to advocating a stateless society Prof. Hans-Hermann Hoppe is well known for not backing away from controversy.1 Hoppe has well earned reputation for not compromising his beliefs and not sugarcoating how he presents ideas. But I would like to highlight how in addition to being an uncompromising scholar, Professor Hoppe has been very supportive of others as well. My story has to do with Hoppe as the Editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies, and myself at the beginning of what has become an academic career. In 1997, I finished my college honors thesis under the direction of my professor Walter Block. My topic was on privatizing law enforcement, for which I read a bunch of material including two of Professor Hoppe’s books, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism and The Economics and Ethics of Private Property.2 I think the thesis was fine for my age, but it was not nearly as structured or polished as something one would write with years of experience. I hoped to be able to publish something from it, but I did not know where to begin. Walter Block said I should send the complete manuscript to Professor Hoppe to ask for advice.

One can only imagine how many other things Prof. Hoppe had on is plate, but not only did he look at my manuscript—he read all 120 pages. Professor Hoppe also took the time to highlight what was useful and what was potentially publishable. And I really appreciated what Prof. Hoppe had to say. My favorite part of the manuscript had been the final quarter, but Walter Block said he liked the first three quarters and not the last part. One can only imagine my dismay when I showed the manuscript to my mother and she said the same thing. Yet Professor Hoppe said that my important contribution was in the final part! I ended up following Hoppe’s recommendations, and rewrote the final quarter as a stand-alone piece, which ended up as my first publication.3 This pleasant experience paved the way for dozens of other publications, and so I am glad Prof. Hoppe was the way he was. The fact that such an established scholar took the time to help the young me is something for which I will always be grateful.

Edward Stringham (edward.stringham@trincoll.edu) is Shelby Cullom Davis Visiting Associate Professor at Trinity College.

4See, e.g., Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Democracy—The God that Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order (New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2001); idem, “Government and the Private Production of Defense,” in idem, ed., The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production (Auburn, Ala.: Mises Institute, 2003).

5Idem, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism: Economics, Politics, and Ethics (Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1989); idem, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property: Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy, 2nd ed. (Auburn, Ala.: Mises Institute, 2006 [1993]).

6Edward Stringham, “Market Chosen Law,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 14 no. 1 (Winter 1998–99): 53–77.

• 1Professors Hoppe’s publications, including links to translations and a detailed bibliography, are available at his website, www.hanshoppe.com.
• 2“Hans-Hermann Hoppe: Potret Intelektual Anti-Intelektual” [“Interview with Hans-Hermann Hoppe, an Anti-Intellectual Intellectual”], interview by Sukasah Syahdan, Akal dan Kehendak (Indonesia) (Apr. 28, 2008) (English translation available at www.hanshoppe.com/publications).
• 3“Principles of the Property and Freedom Society,” available at www.propertyandfreedom.org (quoting the Opening Declaration from the Inaugural Meeting: Bodrum, Turkey, May 2006).
• 4Eventually, Hoppe turned into a full-blown Austrian when, in the early 1980s, he went to the United States on a prestigious Heisenberg fellowship. This time his research project concerned political philosophy, but it was again squarely built on Austrian economics. In 1986, he became Rothbard’s colleague at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), where he would teach for the next 21 years. After Rothbard’s untimely death in 1995, Professor Hoppe assumed a place of uncontested leadership among Austro-libertarian scholars, becoming the editor of the Journal of Libertarian Studies, a co-editor of the Review of Austrian Economics, and then a co-editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. Professor Hoppe, now Professor Emeritus of Economics at UNLV and Distinguished Fellow with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, also serves on on the editorial board of Libertarian Papers. In addition to authoring numerous scholarly articles, his important books include Handeln und Erkennen (1976), Kritik der Kausalwissenschaftlichen Sozialforschung (1983), Eigentum, Anarchie, und Staat (1987), A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (1989), The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (1993, enlarged 2nd edition 2006), Democracy—The God that Failed (2001), and The Myth of National Defense (editor, 2003). His works have been translated into at least 21 languages, not counting English.
• 5Among Professor Hoppe’s many achievements we should stress in particular his brilliant critique of positivist methodology as applied to the social sciences, a new praxeological approach to political philosophy, an encompassing comparative analysis of socialism and capitalism, and a theory of secession as a means of political reform. Most importantly, in his book Democracy—The God that Failed, Professor Hoppe has delivered a profound critique of democracy, as well as an original reinterpretation of Western history in the twentieth century, both of which have stirred international debate in academia and among the wider public. Other influential works from his pen have dealt with the role of migrations within a free society, and with the role of public intellectuals in political transformation processes. Moreover, he has excelled as an historian of thought and made path-breaking contributions to other areas such as monopoly theory; the theory of public goods; the sociology of taxation; the positive methodology of the social sciences; the theory of risk; the production of security; the transformation of formerly socialist countries; and the evolution of monetary institutions and their impact on international relations. And Professor Hoppe’s work is ongoing: he is currently working on a major book project that will restate and elaborate on his previous work in the fields of epistemology and ethics—more generally, the nature of human rationality. The goal of the book is to provide “a systematic and interdisciplinary reconstruction of human history (pre-history, hunter-gatherer societies, agricultural societies, industrial societies).”
• 6for justly acquired private property, freedom of contract, freedom of association—which logically implies the right to not associate with, or to discriminate against—anyone in one’s personal and business relations—and unconditional free trade. It condemns imperialism and militarism and their fomenters, and champions peace. It rejects positivism, relativism, and egalitarianism in any form, whether of “outcome” or “opportunity,” and it has an outspoken distaste for politics and politicians.