Defending the Undefendable
 | |
| Author | Walter Block |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Moral philosophy, political economy |
| Publisher | Fleet Press |
Publication date | 1976; 2008 Mises Institute edition |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 256 |
| ISBN | 9781933550176 |
| OCLC | 248638106 |
| 973.925 | |
| LC Class | HB95 .B58 |
Defending the Undefendable is a 1976 book by American economist Walter Block.[1] It has been translated into ten foreign languages.[2]
In the book, Block takes contrarian positions on a wide range of issues, arguing that many criminal or unpopular behaviors are actually examples of victimless crimes or somehow benefit the community at large. Marcus Epstein describes the book as defending "pimps, drug dealers, blackmailers, corrupt policemen, and loan sharks as 'economic heroes'."[3]
Reception
Cable news pundit John Stossel said of it, "Defending the Undefendable... opened my eyes to the beauties of libertarianism. It explains that so much of what is assumed to be evil – is not."[4] In 2011, writing that economics "illuminates what common sense overlooks", Stossel called the book "eye-opening" and detailed its contents.[5]
The philosopher Tibor Machan, who generally shared Block's libertarian leanings, wrote that the book "defends some of the silliest ideas in support of an essentially good cause... He raises some stimulating issues, even if in an intellectually inadequate fashion."[6]
References
- ^ Walter Block, Defending the Defendable book reprint, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2008 version.
- ^ Walter Block faculty page, Loyola University New Orleans, accessed July 31, 2013.
- ^ Defending the Truly Undefendable
- ^ American Spectator, December, 2006, p. 37.
- ^ John Stossel, Almost Everything We're Taught Is Wrong, Using economics to explode fallacies, Reason, August 25, 2011.
- ^ https://mises.org/library/defending-undefendable
External links
- Defending the Undefendable. Online edition, by Ludwig von Mises Institute
- LCCN 74-21359