Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Why moral judgments can be objective -- Theorists versus their theories : the case of agent causation -- Ethics and its controversial assumptions -- Individualism and human success -- Virtue, liberty, and private property : aspects of humanist political economy -- Economic analysis and the pursuit of liberty -- Human rights and poverty -- Rights, values, regulation, and health care -- The morality of smoking -- Philosophy, physics, and common sense -- The calculation problem and the tragedy of the commons -- Government budget crises -- Some reflections on the right to private property -- Revisiting a critique of libertarianism -- Leo Strauss, neo-conservative? -- Tocqueville and Rand, contrasting views of individualism -- Can and should the constitution be rescued? -- The distraction of anarchism -- "Intellectual" stuff and the right to private property -- Fetal rights : implications of a supposed ought -- 1985 speculation : the fate of Soviet colonies after the fall -- Does one have a right to be wrong? -- Reflections on democracy -- Altruism (stakeholder theory) versus business ethics -- Yes, individualists should respect others' rights.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.