Who is George H. Smith?

A more elaborate question might be "Who is George H. Smith and why did I put together this bibliography of his writings?"

My reason for putting together this bibliography is that I have found George to be a stimulating, thoughtful and very knowledgeable writer on libertarianism and libertarian ideas. He is an accomplished and well-read philosopher and his essays are always cogent and highly readable. And he is a gentleman scholar. He writes forthrightly but without rancor.

But he is also very prolific. So prolific that his writings are a valuable resource, but not always easy to navigate. So I put the bibliography together for selfish reasons, so I could more easily find material George may have written on any particular subject. Such a resource already exists for Ayn Rand's writings as the Ayn Rand Lexicon. This resource is different as I don't quote George, just link to relevant essays on specific topics.

I haven't read all of his writings, but have read five of his books. These are: Atheism: The Case Against God; Atheism, Ayn Rand and Other Heresies; Individualism: A Reader (of which he is the co-editor and writer of the introduction); The System of Liberty: Themes in the History of Classical Liberalism; and Self-Interest and Social Order in Classical Liberalism. I have read a number of his essays but have barely scratched the surface.

George H. Smith discovered libertarianism as I did, through the writings of Ayn Rand. Like myself, the first book of hers he read was non-fiction - in his case, The Virtue of Selfishness, in mine, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. While he has parted ways with Rand in some respects (notably in embracing anarchism and in finding good things to say about Immanuel Kant), he still recognizes the insight and value of her writings and treats her with respect, even when disagreeing with her. So many of Rand's critics within the movement don't show this quality of character and like to trash her. One of the reasons I like George's writing - his fairness and objectivity.

Smith made a name for himself in the nascent libertarian movement with the publication of Atheism: The Case Against God in 1979. It remains the best book ever written on atheism despite the raft of books from the Four Horsemen of the New Atheism (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett). This is mostly due to his approach, which is philosophical. Much of the other writing on atheism is polemical, an attack on religion, rather than a thoughtful analysis.

Atheism, Ayn Rand and Other Heresies is a more personal book detailing some of his personal and philosophical background. I lent the book to someone long ago and haven't got it back or I'd say more about it. I do remember his fascinating discussion of visiting many churches of different denominations to try and get a handle on their views before writing Atheism.

I reviewed Individualism: A Reader and will post that review here tomorrow as my second post.

The System of Liberty is must-read for any libertarian in my opinion. I have used it as a reference work in the poli-sci courses I am taking. It has some intriguing insights, including a rehabilitation of Robert Filmer as a proponent of anarchism. While Filmer's intent was to ridicule classical liberalism by using anarchism as a reductio as absurdum of the liberal position, he actually presents a solid case for anarchism. Filmer, you may recall, was the target of John Locke's First Treatise of Government.

The bibliography so far contains all of his essays at libertarianism.org. I have added a few others including some from Mises.org and The Journal for Libertarian Studies. I will be adding others as I come across them and as time permits. Notably his essays at The Voluntaryist, an organization he co-founded with Wendy McElroy and Carl Watner in 1982.

George never finished university but he continued his education independently. He is an autodidact of distinction in that respect, so much so that he has been published in scholarly publications and his book, The System of Liberty, was published by Cambridge University Press.

I had the privilege of meeting George in person in 1996 at the annual conference of the International Society for Individual Liberty held at Whistler, B.C. I was one of the organizers of the event. George's topic was Historical Perspective on Revolution and Resistance to Authority, the second speaker on the last day of the event (Yes, I still have the Program Schedule!)

Undoubtedly I will find the occasional point of disagreement with George, especially as my own views have been in flux for a few years now and I find myself drifting away from orthodox libertarianism in some respects (if libertarianism can be said to have an orthodoxy). Nevertheless his insights are valuable to me and I hope, to any who may investigate his writings further.

An essay that gives some insight into George's mind and why he writes is one he wrote on the occasion of his third anniversary at libertarianism.org. He called it My Third Anniversary Cerebration (sic) It was also his 150th essay there. In it he talks about the conflict between pragmatism and ideology. He discusses the importance of understanding the historical background to libertarianism. He expresses surprise that there are some libertarians who have never read John Locke's Second Treatise, "arguably the most important and influential book on liberty ever written".

George concludes the essay with these words:

"The Italian Renaissance of the fifteenth century, which was an enthusiastic revival of Greek philosophy, science, and literature, paved the way for the Scientific Revolution. The European mind was stimulated to move forward by looking backward at the finest intellectual culture ever produced in the Western World, that of ancient Greece.

"As libertarians we look forward to a revolution in liberty, but this lies somewhere in the future. We are currently in our renaissance stage, attempting to restore the lost or forgotten ideas of our predecessors. The intellectual culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a period rich in libertarian ideas, is to our renaissance what the culture of ancient Greece was to the Italian Renaissance—the source of our inspiration and the foundation of our future progress.

"I suggest that libertarians can best move forward by first looking backward and rediscovering the intellectual gems that were bequeathed to us by our libertarian progenitors, who were more advanced than we are, theoretically speaking, in several major areas."

I can think of no better way to rediscover these intellectual gems, short of reading the primary sources, than by reading George H. Smith's account of them.

The Bibliography is divided into categories: Books, Essays, and Videos. I listed a few videos when I started but decided to abandon that and get all his written work catalogued first. Also linked in the menu at the right are some of his series, ones that included ten or more essays. But the best way to make use of this bibliography is to click on Essays, find a topic of interest, and follow the link. There you'll find links to George's informed and well-researched thoughts on the topic. Enjoy!

Postscript: Readers are invited to send me any links to articles of George's not yet catalogued in the bibliography. My email is marcoden77 at gmail dot com.