Book Reviews by Yasser Hassan
SMC University, 2014
In his Anarchy, Utopia, and State, Nozick argues that respect for individual rights is the main i... more In his Anarchy, Utopia, and State, Nozick argues that respect for individual rights is the main indicator of the state’s legitimacy. He explains his libertarian doctrine expressing that the only legitimate state, according to him, is the minimal state. The book starts with the claim that “Individuals have rights and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights)” (Nozick, 1974, P.iX)
SMC University, 2014
John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government includes many controversial theories that have provoke... more John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government includes many controversial theories that have provoked contradicted reactions among its readers ever since its publication in 1689. His political philosophy can be summed up into several points: The Law of Nature; The State of Nature; Punishment; Property; Political consent; Separation of powers; and Tyranny and Revolution. In addition, Locke’s influence on the American constitution cannot be ignored. Therefore, it is also included in our below discussion.
SMC University, 2014
Hobbes’s Leviathan includes his political philosophy about the best ruling system. The following ... more Hobbes’s Leviathan includes his political philosophy about the best ruling system. The following are the most significant points in Hobbes political philosophy. Hobbes believes that the natural condition of mankind, before the invention of government and law, is itself the state of war, as people naturally seek to destroy one another to deprive one another’s life, property, and liberty. People fight for competition, diffidence, or Glory. However, Men are equal by nature; thus the state of war is endless. Thus people are never able to make industry, culture or knowledge. The Fear of Death and Wounds and reason lead people to seek peace. Peace can only be achieved by a supreme force. That must be the most powerful to be able to force people to comply with rules of justice.
SMC University, 2013
John Locke (1632–1704) was one of the most influential political philosophers in Europe at the en... more John Locke (1632–1704) was one of the most influential political philosophers in Europe at the end of the seventeenth century (the modern period). He was a British philosopher, Oxford academic and medical researcher. He is considered one of the most important philosophers and political theorists, is known as the “Father of Liberalism”, and is one of the first British empiricists. His writings influenced Voltaire and Rousseau, many Scottish Enlightenment thinkers, as well as the American revolutionaries.
SMS University, 2013
“The Myth of national defence” consists of eleven essays; each essay is written by a different a... more “The Myth of national defence” consists of eleven essays; each essay is written by a different author. The whole book is edited by Hans Herman Hoppes who divides it into four sections; each section deals with a set of points related to Hoppe’s viewpoint. Hoppes believes that current states do not fulfil the aim that they initially were set up for. The original aim behind the existence of governments is to protect people’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Instead, they became destructive of these ends. Therefore, it is an urgent need at present to consider the abolishing of these failing and oppressive entities. The book offers both empirical and theoretical support to the thesis that every monopoly is bad even the monopoly of the states over security provision.
SMC University, 2013
Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French classical-liberal economist. He is one of the greatest ... more Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850) was a French classical-liberal economist. He is one of the greatest philosophers of the nineteenth century who devoted his life to the cause of liberty. He wrote many books on economics and political economy such as ECONOMIC SOPHISMS and THE LAW. His writings are generally characterized by wittiness, simplicity, and clearance. Even a non professional person that has no political or economic background can understand them. The most outstanding book of Bastiat is THE LAW.
SMC University, 2013
Bruno Leoni was an Italian philosopher, jurist, and linguist. He was a legal scholar and a great ... more Bruno Leoni was an Italian philosopher, jurist, and linguist. He was a legal scholar and a great inspiration to F.A Hayek and to all classical liberals who focus on issues of rule of law and the free society. His most important book is Freedom and the Law (1961). The general idea upon which Leoni based his book can be summarized in those words of him “Grammarians, we should add, may have a great influence on the language, and the rules they work out may well react on the linguistic usage of their country, but grammarians cannot create a language.” He means that Legislators must act just like grammarians; explore laws rather than inventing them.
Teaching Documents by Yasser Hassan
SMC University, 2015
Poverty is as ancient as humankind. Hunger and famine stroke many ancient civilizations throughou... more Poverty is as ancient as humankind. Hunger and famine stroke many ancient civilizations throughout the history such as Roman, Greek and ancient Egyptian nations. In fact, The Encyclopedia Britannica lists thirty-one major famines from ancient times down to I960 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1965). for example, “In the eleventh and twelfth centuries famine [in England] is recorded every fourteen years, on an average, and the people suffered twenty years of famine in two hundred years. In the thirteenth century, the list exhibits the same proportion of famine; the addition of high prices made the proportion greater. Upon the whole, scarcities decreased during the three following centuries; but the average from 1201 to 1600 is the same, namely, seven famines and ten years of famine in a century.” (Farr, P158, 1846).
SMC University, 2015
Socialism can be defined as “any system of institutional aggression exercised by a governing body... more Socialism can be defined as “any system of institutional aggression exercised by a governing body on the free exercise of human action or entrepreneurship which ordinary people, politicians, and scientists usually justify as one capable of improving the functioning of society and of achieving certain ends and objectives considered good” (De Soto Huerta,1998, P.4). Coercion or aggression is any physical violence or threats employed against the actor by another person or a group of people. Thus, the actor is prevented from freely exercise entrepreneurship for the sake of the aggressor (De Soto Huerta).
SMC University, 2015
Although monopoly problems occupy great portion of economic writing, there is not exact definitio... more Although monopoly problems occupy great portion of economic writing, there is not exact definition of it. In fact, the nature of monopoly is vague and confusing and very few economists have formulated a coherent, meaningful definition of monopoly (Rothbard & Murray, 1963). For example, it is stated “Monopoly exists when a firm has control over its price” (Rothbard & Murray, 1963, P.662). However, this definition is very misleading. As how could a firm controls the price when the price of the sale is voluntarily agreed upon by both parties of the exchange. For, the seller has the right to set any price for the good he sells, on the other hand, the consumer is free to set the price at which he will purchase the good (Rothbard & Murray, 1963).
SMC University, 2015
Prices, wages and interest rate are normally affected by economic polices applied by the governme... more Prices, wages and interest rate are normally affected by economic polices applied by the government. Government economic policies exist mainly in two forms; interfering with the structure of the market or maintaining the independence of the market process that happens in the unhampered markets. Socialists defend government interference in the market on the ground that it protects the customer from the greedy sellers and protects the workers from the exploiting employer. On the other hand, defenders of the unhampered markets argue that the market is a discovery process and that the human cognition is limited (Caldwell, 1998). They also believe that central planner would take the role of thousands of entrepreneurs in a market system that is considered a problem (Hayek, 1935).
SMC University, 2015
The market is not something that came into exist by chance. On the contrary, it is the product of... more The market is not something that came into exist by chance. On the contrary, it is the product of a long evolutionary process. It is the result of man's restless attempts to adjust his
SMC University, 2015
Economic science has witnessed great changes across the history. Many economic scholars have exer... more Economic science has witnessed great changes across the history. Many economic scholars have exerted great effort to come up with theories for interpreting and regulating economics. For example, Keynes, Hayek and Adam Smith have had great contribution in the economic science. It can be said that these names along with other great scholars have shaped the economy as a science. However, certain events such as the financial crisis that took place in 2008 made economic scholars rethink the current state of the economic science.
SMC University, 2014
Global integration of economies is generally considered a boon, but sometimes it turns to be a cu... more Global integration of economies is generally considered a boon, but sometimes it turns to be a curse that brings misfortunes to the world. It seem that the effect of the world financial crisis were grave because of globalization, as globalization transmitted the crisis from few countries to the whole world. In fact, even the least integrated economies such as the Middle East countries, have been affected.
SMC University, 2014
Anthony de Jasay is one of the most influential philosophers and economists and one of the strong... more Anthony de Jasay is one of the most influential philosophers and economists and one of the strongest proponents of classical liberalism. He believes in the individual’s ability to privately organize their affairs without the need of the state, full laissez- faire. He is the author of the famous book The State (1985).
SMC University, 2014
Does Knowledge of Constitutional Principles Increase Support for Civil Liberties? Green et al (20... more Does Knowledge of Constitutional Principles Increase Support for Civil Liberties? Green et al (2011) have tried to answer this question by conducting a randomized field experiment. They questioned the claim that education has positive effect on a person’s support for civil liberties; that the more students are exposed to political knowledge and constitutional norms the more they support civil liberties. In 2011 they conducted a large- scale experimental test to more than 1000 students in 59 high schools. An enhanced civics curriculum that promoted awareness and understating of civil liberties and constitutional rights was assigned to randomly chosen classrooms. Students that studied the enhanced curriculum showed significantly more knowledge in this domain than students in other civics classes. Nevertheless, they did not demonstrate any corresponding change in their support for civil liberties than other students. Thus, the result casts doubts on the causal relation between knowledge and attitude (Green et al, 2011). This field study was conducted in the United States. This arouses the question that if this was conducted in Egypt, how would it differ and why?
SMC University, 2014
The effect of the generational gap has been widely discussed in social and political literature. ... more The effect of the generational gap has been widely discussed in social and political literature. Lewis Feuer is one of the strongest proponents of it. He believes that "generational conflict, generational struggle has been a universal theme in human history" (Feuer,1969, P.1969). The generational gap has been affecting the Arab region greatly especially with the advent of the significant events that have been taking place recently.
SMC University, 2014
The ideal democracy is achieved when the mass of ordinary people have major opportunities to acti... more The ideal democracy is achieved when the mass of ordinary people have major opportunities to actively participate through discussion and autonomous organizations in drawing up the agenda of public life and when the people are actively using these opportunities rather than passively respond to opinion polls (Crouch, 2004). According to Crouch , what is really happening is that elections that change governments are there but they are managed by teams of experts in the techniques of persuasion thus the debates are limited to a small range of issues selected by those teams and the mass of citizens are passively responding to the signals given to them. Thus the electoral game politics is just a scene it's scenario is written in private by interaction between elected governments and elites which overwhelmingly represent business interest. This state is what crouch calls Post democracy.
SMC University, 2014
The world, as we know, is divided into certain bounded countries. Each country adopts certain pol... more The world, as we know, is divided into certain bounded countries. Each country adopts certain political system; some of them are democratic, Republic, Monarchy, communist or dictator. However, the very fact of the presence of countries makes us wonder how they came into existence in the first place. What are the reasons behind forming about 195 independent sovereign states and 60 dependent areas and five disputed territories around the world? To do so one must go back very far in history. Turchin (2009) in his essay (warfare and the evolution of social complexity) investigates how complex hierarchical systems evolve from being small scale, non-centralized, egalitarian groups integrated by face to face interaction to become large scale hierarchical and centralized, in egalitarian societies that run by symbolic markers and chains of commands such as states and empires. He focuses on the preindustrial age between the axial age and the industrial Revolution.
SMC University, 2014
Although both the United States of America and the Great Britain adopt democratic ideologies yet ... more Although both the United States of America and the Great Britain adopt democratic ideologies yet their political systems are completely different. The Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy while the USA is a constitutional republic (Way, Jr., n.d.).
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Book Reviews by Yasser Hassan
Teaching Documents by Yasser Hassan