In The Noblest Triumph, Tom Bethell looks at the history of property rights and shows that the key role played by the institution of private property has been misunderstood by Western elites for more than a century. Beginning with the ancient Greeks and arriving at the present day, Bethell looks at basic ideas about property found in the writings of Plato, Adam Smith, Blackstone, Bentham, Marx, Mill, and others. He shows that the institution of property is inextricably tied to traditional conceptions of justice and liberty, and he argues that prosperity and civilization can only arise where private property is securely held by the people. The Noblest Triumph is an indispensable book for anyone interested in this fundamental aspect of civilization and the progress of humankind through the ages.
Introduction
• First Things
• The Blessings of Property
• Property, Law and Economy
• The Free Rider Problem
• Plato’s Conceit
• The Logic of the Commons
• Roman and Common Law
• Romans and Countrymen
• The English Lead
• FromSacred to Profane
• The Economists’ Oversight
• Marx, Mill, and Marshall
• The New Man
• Owen’s Trinity of Evils
• The Soviet Experiment
• Right and Just
• To Each His Due
• Rights--and Property Rights
• America’s Double Standard
• Why Isn’t the Whole World Developed?
• Taking Liberties Abroad
• Historical Puzzles
• Property in Araby
• Why Did Ireland Starve?
• Issues of the Day
• Intellectual Property
• Property and the Environment
• Issues at Home
• The Feudal Temptation
• The Rediscovery of Property
• A New Beginning
• China, Property and Democracy
Overview
In The Noblest Triumph, Tom Bethell looks at the history of property rights and shows that the key role played by the institution of private property has been misunderstood by Western elites for more than a century. Beginning with the ancient Greeks and arriving at the present day, Bethell looks at basic ideas about property found in the writings of Plato, Adam Smith, Blackstone, Bentham, Marx, Mill, and others. He shows that the institution of property is inextricably tied to traditional conceptions of justice ...