Some argue that one should not have heroes, truth being its own witness.
But truth doesn’t move through the ether by itself, it must be carried and honed and broadcast by people, usually people of courage, and it must be made clear. My heroes have all been great expositors of truth.
I believe that there is nothing wrong with having intellectual ‘heroes.’
The problems occur when heroes are held to a higher standard of consistency and advancement than anyone could attain, and then, when their works, actions or shortcomings reveal them to have been only human, they, along with all of their positive contributions, are angrily cast aside. Or when, in a desperate struggle to defend the standing or reputation of their heroes, admirers resort to animadversion toward rivals or critics, a consequence of blinding themselves to reality.
Deserving of heroic standing, in my judgment, are those who have demonstrated intellectual courage, originality, insight, a reliance on reason, compassion, an ability to express themselves, and, most of all, a willingness to stand on principle. All these crusaders had the courage of their convictions; convictions, which, for the most part, at least in certain areas, were both radical and right. Many were not consistent libertarians but in a certain area were inspiring nonetheless.
I like what Duncan Howlett once wrote: “Man climbed out of the jungle and into civilization on the backs of the independent-minded. It was not merely the intelligent who carried the human race forward. It was yet more the courageous, who dared to suggest new thought patterns and who dared to institute new practices in accordance with them. To these bold spirits who have lived in every age, we owe such progress as we have made.”
To be certain, writings and ideas will have quite different effects on one individual as compared to another, which is why even soul mates do not have precisely the same names on their lists. Our intellectual and spiritual heroes, like our libraries, are highly personal. These 45 heroes of mine, all deceased and mostly Americans, are listed in alphabetical order only. While I hold some of them in far higher esteem than I do others, I do not choose to rank them.
To be sure, there have been many other heroes in my life, but most of the others either are still alive or do not fit here.
While there would be many powerful (and interesting) disagreements among this group, and while all of them, like all of us, had imperfections and inconsistencies, each has made my life far richer. I admire them for their honesty, courage and perception, and I commend them without reservation.
ALLEN, Ethan – BARNES, Harry Elmer – BASTIAT, Frederic – BRIGHT, John – BURBANK, Luther – CHILDS, Roy – COBDEN, Richard – EKIRCH, Arthur – EMERSON, Ralph Waldo – FLYNN, John T. – FRANKLIN, Benjamin – GARRETT, Garet – GARRISON, William Lloyd – GEORGE, Henry – GREAVES, Percy — HALDEMAN-JULIUS, Emanuel – HAYEK, Friedrich – HAZLITT, Henry – HENRY, Patrick – INGERSOLL, Robert Green – JEFFERSON, Thomas – KWITNY, Jonathan — LEFEVRE, Robert – MARTIN, James J. — MASON, George – MENCKEN, H.L. – MISES, Ludwig von – NOCK, Albert Jay – PAINE, Thomas – PRIESTLEY, Joseph – RAND, Ayn – READ, Leonard – ROTHBARD, Murray – RUSSELL, Bertrand – SENNHOLZ, Hans — SMITH, Adam – SPENCER, Herbert – SPOONER, Lysander – STIRNER, Max – SUMNER, William Graham – TAYLOR, John – THOREAU, Henry David – TUCKER, Benjamin – TWAIN, Mark – VOLTAIRE (F.M. Arouet).
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14 Responses
GARRETT, Garet
That is a great addition! Garet Garrett belongs on this list without question. When I put the majority of the names on this list together about ten years ago, it had been a long time since I’d read Garrett, and I had only a small paperback book of his three famous essays that I’d bought in the early 1970′s at a John Birch bookstore at the Kansas State Fair. In the last ten years, thanks in part to your efforts to raise awareness of him, I have read a great deal – even his novel The Driver. So I welcome your quick and correct addition of his name. He is absolutely an intellectual hero.
I made a brief, and very incomplete, list earlier today. Yer Tiz: http://mrcivillibertarian.co.uk/heroes/ I’ll add to it as and when necessary.
Milton Friedman should be on any lover of liberty’s list I believe. For all the faults of his positivism and economic theory, I think one would be hard pressed to find a more vocal and consistent (in his bias always toward liberty, not in his theories) advocate of what we all are working towards. Milton Friedman had his hand in several liberty promoting social movements throughout the 20th century and his position on the issues of his day carried significant weight. Friedman and his wife made a fantastic set of introductory videos on liberty and economics titled Free to Choose.He also wrote Capitalism and Freedom, which would surely be considered radical by today’s political standards. Ideas are essential and some of Friedman’s were, in my opinion, deficient. But, as the Ducan Howlett quote beautifully makes clear, man was raised out of the jungle by courageous and bold men; men of action as well as ideas. I view Friedman as a man of action in the evolution of the liberty drama. His role as a prominent leader of thought in the US and his promotion of the ideas of liberty should not be forgotten.
I think highly of Milton Friedman, with whom I corresponded and in whose house I was once a guest. But I never considered Milton a great writer, and his books are not among prized possessions in my home — in the sense that they are not volumes I would turn to often for inspiration and enjoyment. Ben Rogge, my old and dear friend after whom I named my younger son , was also an inspiration, but Ben was a public speaker more than a writer. There are others on the margin — Hans Sennholz, Percy Greaves, Jonathan Kwitny, and James Martin — who probably deserve to be included. But Milton was just not a great prose stylist in my judgment, so that even his Newsweek columns, while worthy of applause, tend to have a rather sterile tone. Does that justify not including him? Probably not, but at least it explains it.
No, I understand that any thinking person’s list of personal heroes will be unique and multiple people may have the same person on their list but for different, though likely related, reasons. I guess my response was speaking more toward a “If we were to have a Hall of Fame for Liberty, these people would be inducted” sort of way. I think your list is good and shows you’ve grappled with the works of a wide array of thoughtful minds. I’m young and unfamiliar with the work of many of those on your list, but one day I hope that will no longer be the case.
Reisman george, Reisman george, Reisman george, Reisman george
You must be a hero to devote so much hard work and intelligence to write something as Capitalism.
Clear writing, style, fighting spirit, revolutionary economics… A mix of Ludwig von Mises and Frederic Bastiat, with a randian twist. What else?
How can you forget this one? I know he is alive but still.
I am a fan of Professor Reisman but, as you say, he is alive and everyone on my list is not. I hope he remains ineligible on that score for many years to come.
that’s fair
Mark Twain who was the ultimate fan of intellectual property enforced by the state? I think not!
“The problems occur when heroes are held to a higher standard of consistency and advancement than anyone could attain, and then, when their works, actions or shortcomings reveal them to have been only human, they, along with all of their positive contributions, are angrily cast aside.”
I do have many intellectual HEROES, I am a fan of James Martin, he is best known for his work on the history of American individualist anarchism, Men Against the State, first published in 1953.
signs of infertility
i’m going to stick my neck out and put joe sobran on this list. he spoke his mind without fear or favour and paid a very high price for his temerity. he mightn’t have reached the literary heights of the above giants, but courage in the face of adversity carries enormous weight. lesser men might have buckled.
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