Talk:Albert Jay Nock

A photograph
Perhaps a photo would be apropriate in this article? The Individual 14:44, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

UVA Lectures
The lectures Nock gave at UVA were later composed into his book "The Theory of Education in the United States". I don't think that they had anything to do with "Our Enemy, The State". Any comments, before I edit the article?

Theory of value?
He didn't subscribe to the labor of value did was he? Did he speak of economic value at all? Was he a marginalist?Anarcho-capitalism 04:32, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

I've read many of Nock's books, and I don't think his economic thinking was sophisticated enough to encompass ideas like the law of decreasing marginal utility (to which I suppose "marginalist" refers). His understanding of economics was rooted in a thorough acquaintance with Western history, from the ancient Greek city states through modern times. See, for instance, his entertaining essay On the Value of Useless Knowledge. Most of Nock's critiques of excessive government intervention are based on history: it didn't work in ancient Greece, it didn't work in Rome, it didn't work when Otto von Bismarck tried to do it, so what makes Mr. Roosevelt any different? (This is a typical Nockian criticism of New Deal policies.) DavidCBryant 15:32, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Thanks. How about his position on land ownership? Wasn't he a Georgist for awhile? He didn't believe in the old "occupancy and use" theories of the older individualist anarchists did he?Anarcho-capitalism 17:14, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm hard-pressed to answer your question directly. Nock certainly admired Henry George as a person – he wrote a biography entitled simply Henry George. It's been several years since I read it, but as I recall Nock took a fairly dispassionate view of HG's politics, and spoke of him approvingly mostly because HG achieved great success as an author (Progress and Poverty even outsold the Authorized Version of the Bible from roughly 1900 to 1910, worldwide). Nock wrote Henry George in 1939, so his views on the single tax may have changed by the time he wrote that book (notice that the article mentions the single tax in the 1920 - 24 time frame). The one vivid memory I have is Nock declaring that "Henry George was the best friend the capitalist ever had", a statement with which most modern libertarians would willingly take issue, in my estimation. But then, most of them have never bothered to read Protection or Free Trade. DavidCBryant 20:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * PS I really don't think that Nock ever involved himself deeply in theoretical questions about property ownership. He seemed to empathize with Tho. Jefferson quite a lot, and I think he (Nock) had a conception of property that was pretty old-fashioned – like Madison, Nock seemed to think that a person's property consists not only of his tangible possessions, but includes his ideas, and his persona, and even his liberty itself, I suppose. Anyway, Nock was Nock – a unique individual – and I don't think he fits into the standard pigeonholes very well. dcb


 * I appreciate the response. I've been trying to find info on his economic philosophy, but there doesn't seem to be much. It looks like his focus was on the state itself.Anarcho-capitalism 20:10, 1 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I think that's accurate. Nock had a theory, which he described in many different essays, that people are more than economic animals. He had five divisions of social activity, which included things like art & music, good manners & skillful conversation ... sorry, but I can't think of all of them right now. Anyway, one of his criticisms of American culture is that it concentrates too much attention on material things, and not enough on mental/artistic/spiritual achievement. He spent a lot of time in Europe. I think he was happier there. On the other hand, he took a very dim view of socialism. In one of his memoirs (about 1933, or 1934) he wrote something to the effect of "Today the furnace in my apartment broke down, and I almost froze to death. The superintendent can't find a man to fix it. If this unemployment problem gets any worse, one soon won't be able to hire anyone to do any work, no matter how high one sets the wages!" DavidCBryant 20:32, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Quotations.
After reviewing this article I think it's factually accurate, but not very much fun to read. One of the greatest attractions of Nock's books is that they're extraordinarily entertaining. Who else could have coined a phrase like "The beds in Portugal are as hard as Pharoah's heart"? Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone would object to adding a section on Nock's literary style, which might include a few quotations like that one. DavidCBryant 16:04, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Bias
The first few paragraphs of this article are very POV

Anti-Collectivism
Franz Oppenheimer is listed as his "anti-collectivist" influence. But Opppenheimer is clearly a collectivist. Does anyone have any references regarding this issue? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Can cekisen sanat (talk • contribs) 00:25, 22 September 2014 (UTC)

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