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Champions of a Free Society: Ideas of Capitalism's Philosophers and Economists
Author(s): Edward W. Younkins (Author)
- Publisher: Lexington Books (UK)
- Publication Date: 28 Aug. 2008
- Language: English
- Print length: 408 pages
- ISBN-10: 0739126474
- ISBN-13: 9780739126479
Book Description
Edward Younkins provides an historical perspective of the pursuit of political and economic truth. The goal of this book is to present the development of ideas in language that permits generally educated readers to understand and appreciate their significance. The books chronological approach considers the thinkers and their ideas as they have developed over the course of time. There is much unfulfilled illuminative potential to be found in the ideas of the past and Younkins successfully integrates the ideas of past and current thinkers into a logical contemporary worldview.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Champions of a Free Society is a compelling story of the evolution and development of liberalism”s foundational ideas. In effortlessly readable prose, the author capsulizes the philosophic and economic views of twenty writers on liberty. He handles with ease and understanding the most difficult concepts of metaphysics and epistemology, as well as ethics, political philosophy, and economics. An eye-opening overview concentrated in just a few hundred pages. — Jerry Kirkpatrick, California State Polytechnic University
This wonderful volume brings together some of the most important ideas that serve as capitalism”s intellectual infrastructure. Now is the time to give them a hearing again! Professor Younkins has done a marvelous service in making this possible for today”s students. — Lew Rockwell, Ludwig von Mises Institute
Champions of a Free Society is a tour de force of the libertarian and classical liberal movements. Dig into any of these chapters, better yet, all of them, and see a masterfully told story of the history of liberty from days gone by to the modern era. — Walter E. Block, Loyola University New Orleans
Ed Younkins has here created an invaluable resource for the interested layman: an eminently readable, largely non-technical survey of influential free-market thinkers. This is a masterful summary of 2,500 years of libertarian and classical liberal thought, from Lao Tzu to Aristotle to Locke to Rand, Mises, and Rothbard. Best of all, the presentation is not narrowly ”economic.” Open this book and you will open your mind to the glory of human flourishing. — Larry J. Sechrest, Sul Ross University
Recommended. Two-star review.
Younkins provides a superb complement to his earlier book, Capitalism and Commerce. He presents an encyclopedic investigation of the rich intellectual heritage of liberty. This is a thought-provoking journey through the works of great thinkers, past and present. — Chris Matthew Sciabarra, New York University
Champions of a Free Society is a welcome introduction to the nature and history of the modern philosophy of liberty. It should be especially valuable to economists reconciling a preference for freedom with the ”value-free” nature of their science. — John B. Egger, Towson University
About the Author
Edward W. Younkins is Professor of Accountancy and Business at Wheeling University, Executive Director of its Institute for the Study of Capitalism and Mortality, and the founder of the university’s undergraduate major in Political and Economic Philosophy.
He is also the founding director of the school’s Master in Business Administration (MBA) and Master of Science in Accountancy (MSA) programs. He earned in Ph.D. in Accountancy from the University of Mississippi and earned state and national hours on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exams, respectively. Dr. Younkins also received the Outstanding Educator Award for 1997 from the West Virginia Society of CPAs.
He is on the editorial board of Reason Papers and Libertarian Papers, the advisory board of The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies (JARS), the board of trustees of The Savvy Street, and is series editor of Capitalist Thought: Studies in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics for Lexington Books. The author of numerous articles in accounting and business journals, he has also published in many free-market-oriented journals.
He has authored or edited a dozen books including his trilogy of books on freedom and flourishing: Capitalism and Commerce, Champions of a Free Society, and Flourishing and Happiness in a Free Society.
