Editing Robert Nozick (section)

===Later reflections on libertarianism===

Nozick pronounced some misgivings about libertarianism – specifically his own work ''Anarchy, State and Utopia'' – in his later publications. Some later editions of ''The Examined Life'' advertise this fact explicitly in the blurb, saying Nozick "refutes his earlier claims of libertarianism" in one of the book's essays, "The Zigzag of Politics". In the introduction of ''The Examined Life'', Nozick says his earlier works on political philosophy "now [seem] seriously inadequate", and later repeats this claim in the first chapter of ''The Nature of Rationality''.<ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations'', p.17. Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-671-72501-3}}</ref><ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''The Nature of Rationality'', p.32. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-02096-5}}</ref>

In these works, Nozick also praised political ideals which ran contrary to the arguments canvassed in ''Anarchy, State and Utopia''. In ''The Examined Life'', Nozick proposes wealth redistribution via an [[inheritance tax]] and upholds the value of [[liberal democracy]].<ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''The Examined Life: Philosophical Meditations'', p.28-32. Simon & Schuster. {{ISBN|978-0-671-72501-3}}</ref> In ''The Nature of Rationality'', Nozick calls [[truth]] a [[primary goods|primary good]], explicitly appropriating Rawls' ''A Theory of Justice''.<ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''The Nature of Rationality'', p.68. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-02096-5}}</ref> In the same work, however, Nozick implies that [[minimum wage]] laws are unjust,{{ref|min wage|b}} and later denigrates [[Marxism]] before vindicating capitalism, making reference to [[Adam Smith]]'s ''[[The Wealth of Nations]]''.<ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''The Nature of Rationality'', p.27, p.130-131. Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-02096-5}}</ref>

Nozick also broke away from libertarian principles in his own personal life, invoking rent control laws against [[Erich Segal]] – who was at one point Nozick's landlord – and winning over $30,000 in a settlement. Nozick later claimed to regret doing this, saying he was moved by "intense irritation" with Segal and his legal representatives at the time, and was quoted in an interview saying "sometimes you have to do what you have to do".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.juliansanchez.com/2003/04/08/nozicks-apartment/|title=Nozick's Apartment|last=Sanchez|first=Julian|date=April 8, 2003|access-date=December 14, 2023|archive-date=December 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214134549/https://www.juliansanchez.com/2003/04/08/nozicks-apartment/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some of Nozick's later works seem to endorse libertarian principles. In ''Invariances'', Nozick advances the "four layers of ethics", which at its core maintains an explicitly libertarian underpinning.<ref>Nozick, Robert (2001). ''Invariances'', p.280-282. Harvard University Press</ref> In ''Socratic Puzzles'', Nozick republished some of his old essays with a libertarian grounding, such as "Coercion" and "On The Randian Argument", alongside new essays such as "On Austrian Methodology" and "Why Do Intellectuals Oppose Capitalism?". However, Nozick does allude to some continued reservations about libertarianism in its introduction, saying that "it is disconcerting to be known primarily for an early work".<ref>Nozick, Robert (1989). ''Socratic Puzzles'', p.17. Harvard University Press.</ref>

Scholars and journalists have since debated what Nozick's true political position was before the end of his life.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Leaving Libertarianism: Social Ties in Robert Nozick's New Philosophy|last = Herbjørnsrud|first = Dag|publisher = University of Oslo|year = 2002|location = Oslo, Norway|url = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/25070|access-date = October 12, 2015|archive-date = April 25, 2023|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230425013250/https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/25070|url-status = live}}</ref> Writing for [[Slate magazine|Slate]], [[Stephen Metcalf (writer)|Stephen Metcalf]] notes one of Nozick's core claims in ''The Examined Life'', that actions done through government serve as markers of "our human solidarity". Metcalf then postulates that Nozick felt this was threatened by [[neoliberal]] politics.<ref name=Metcalf>{{cite web|last1=Metcalf|first1=Stephen|title=The Liberty Scam: Why even Robert Nozick, the philosophical father of libertarianism, gave up on the movement he inspired|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_dilettante/2011/06/the_liberty_scam.html|website=slate.com|access-date=April 17, 2017|date=June 24, 2011|archive-date=October 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009153316/http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_dilettante/2011/06/the_liberty_scam.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Libertarian journalist [[Julian Sanchez (writer)|Julian Sanchez]], who interviewed Nozick shortly before his death, claims that Nozick "always thought of himself as a libertarian in a broad sense, right up to his final days, even as his views became somewhat less 'hardcore'".<ref>[[Julian Sanchez (writer)|Julian Sanchez]], [http://www.juliansanchez.com/2011/06/21/nozick-libertarianism-and-thought-experiments/ "Nozick, Libertarianism, and Thought Experiments"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617085427/http://www.juliansanchez.com/2011/06/21/nozick-libertarianism-and-thought-experiments/ |date=June 17, 2019 }}.</ref>