Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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REVIEWS AND COMMENTS BY MURRAY N. ROTHBARD 59 All this is repugnant to a true individualist—to him every individual has equal rights and has equal claim to be treated with justice and to have an opportunity for self-development with freedom. The “dignity of the individual” means every individual regardless of what era he happens to live in. No one can have the right to sweat the present by any sort of Gosplan— whether Stalinist or rugged—for the benefit of the future, even if the future men actually did benefit, which is of course highly doubtful. Friedrich Nietzsche, the father of the rugged individualists, said that “Man is a bridge and not a goal—the bridge to the Superman.” The humane individualist—the true individualist—says “No! Man himself is the goal; every individual is a goal; no man must be permitted to use any other man as a slave—as a means to any other goal!” Having presented the reader with this appalling and fallacious doctrine of rugged individualism, Dr. Cutten ends with the usual flourish of desperate alternatives: “Will it be rugged individualism or ragged collectivism? Judge quickly, there is no time to waste.” 13 To a true individualist this is akin to choosing between hanging and the electric chair. However, I feel in the same position as your friend who commented on the choice facing him between liberty and onions or government paternalism and three square meals a day. He chose the latter, albeit reluctantly. Similarly, I would choose ragged collectivism. It may be that the reason for the general collectivist spirit of modern intellectuals is that they were presented with exactly the same choice by similar people. In other words, the only type of individualism that they came into contact with was the “rugged” type. The inevitable outcome was their choosing ragged collectivism instead, and for that, they are not to be particularly blamed. 13 Ibid., p. 71.
MURRAY N. ROTHBARD VS. THE PHILOSPHERS: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 60 ON HAYEK, MISES, STRAUSS, AND POLYANI It follows that any widespread distribution of this speech by the foundation would be disastrous to the individualist cause that we all hold so dear. Any converts that may have been made by the uniformly excellent literature that you have distributed until now might very well be lost if people mistakenly believe that all individualism—or that the foundation’s individualism—is necessarily rugged. Granted that there are many statements that have merit in Dr. Cutten’s speech; they are more than outweighed by the central thesis. I think that the foundation would do itself a very good turn by (1) not distributing this on a widespread basis, and (2) publishing a critique of “Rugged Individualism” that will completely expose it as really perniciously anti-individualist in spirit and completely fallacious in doctrine. I’d very much like to know what you, Dr. Harper, think of this problem: should individualism be humane or rugged? Thank you for sending me the speech. Cordially, Murray P.S. I just received Leo Wolman’s pamphlet on industrywide bargaining in the mail. It looks like a fine job. The de Jouvenel pamphlet was also very good, providing an excellent complement to the Stigler and Watts work on rent control.
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© 2009 by the Ludwig von Mises Ins
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ROTHBARD’S UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS I
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LAW AND NATURE IN THE WORK OF MURRA
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF
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REFERENCES 1 Buckley, William F. Go
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 151 BIB
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REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 153 Dav
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“Absolutes, Relativism, and the S
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INDEX 161 environment, 123-24 Essay
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INDEX 163 Jesuits, 24 judges, 69 ju
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INDEX 165 Oriental Despotism (Wittf
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INDEX 167 Socrates, 26n42 solidarit
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Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

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