Against the State: An Introduction to Anarchist Political Theory by Crispin Sartwell

Against the State: An Introduction to Anarchist Political Theory Reviews

• 
  Craine

  As someone who has read quite a few introductions to anarchism this short book certainly stands out in a positive way, but may perhaps appeal more for to the audience of whom likes to engage in philosophical issues. Crispin lays forth some of the strongest or if not the strongest definitely the most historical significant arguments pertaining to the state as a construct and its justification and takes these arguments apart. He notes the justification of the state is most often defended on the grounds of utilitarian, contract basis or through other judicial beneficial reasons and addresses theses arguments one at a time. A summary of his positions regarding a possible envisioned future through anarchism is given at the end of the book.
  
  On criticism I have of the book is that he does not bother always to give reasonable counter arguments as is the case for social contracts where he simply gives some loose arguments then says that the social contract defense has been debunked by others without proper reference to these arguments. Its also noted that Crispin is an individual anarchist and not a social anarchist although there are of course generalities in terms of the philosophy of anarchism which includes both social and individual anarchists such as creating a society with as voluntary as possible number of interactions and there is much overlap in the positions of personal autonomy and liberty as well.
  
  Overall enjoyable especially if you have some interest in political philosophy and as an introduction to anarchism. If you are looking for a book where existing or previous anarchist examples are given then I would not suggest this book as it does not cover this topic. Alternatives to read in that regard I would highly recommend "Chomsky- On Anarchism " or " Anarchism From Theory to Practice- Daniel Guerin" for example.
  
  
  (Note I don't like the star rating and as such I only rate books based upon one star or five stars corresponding to the in my opinion preferable rating of thumbs up/down. This later rating system encourages in my opinion the degree to which the reader is likely to read a review instead of merely glancing at the number of stars)
• 
  Molly

  The first thing you should know is that the title is a lie. Kind of. As Crispin puts it himself, all anarchist philosophies are different, meaning there can be no one introduction, which in turn means this is an introduction to his idea of what anarchist political theory is. Which is a lot of criticism of the political philosophy of Hobbes.
  
  While I agree that Hobbes was wrong, and Crispin is right, about a lot of stuff, I keep thinking, "Almost all the political philosophy I've read, like Marx, Kropotkin, and Goldman is so much more digestible and understandable."
  
  It's a tiresome read that requires an understanding of the modern language in political philosophy to be decipherable, which really flies in the face of what I think makes anarchist philosophy cool: It's slick and understandable, throwing away the hierarchy of class and education to reach the masses.
  
  It's not a bad book, but I feel like it fails to be an introduction to the average, curious person. I would much rather recommend Kropotkin or Goldman if you want an introduction to the philosophy of anarchy.
• 
  Boaz

  Philosophical discussion of anarchy- arguments as to why the state is not justified and is founded on violence.