To each as they choose, from each as they are chosen.
Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), Ch. 7: Distributive Justice, Section I, Patterning, p. 160.
A slogan to counter the socialist principle of distributive justice, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” The full, non-slogan version of Nozick’s “entitlement theory” of justice, expressed roughly in this form, appeared a few sentences before:
From each according to what he chooses to do, to each according to what he makes for himself (perhaps with the contracted aid of others) and what others choose to do for him and choose to give him of what they’ve been given previously (under this maxim) and haven’t yet expended or transferred.
“This,” Nozick admitted, “has its defects as a slogan.” Which is why he provided the shorter version.
1 reply on “Robert Nozick”
Nozick’s argument for the state in AS&U is widely misunderstood by many, including most anarchists. He didn’t propose a scenario in which states had arisen; he didn’t propose a scenario in which he necessarily expected states to arise. He proposed a scenario in which he believed states could arise without unanimous consent and yet without a violation of ethics. The objective of the exercise was to refute over-broad ethical claims by anarchists.