I recently mentioned the wonderful article on Jefferson by Marco Bassani in the latest JLS. Thanks to the Mises Institute, this issue–including Bassani’s article–is now online.
Contents of JLS Volume 18, no. 1 (Winter 2004):
- “Mises versus Weber on Bureaucracy and Sociological Method” by William P. Anderson, Jr. Max Weber and Ludwig von Mises offer contrasting examples of how one can “do sociology.” Left unanswered, however, is which way of doing sociology is a more fruitful and accurate method of social scientific analysis. Because Mises and Weber both authored studies of the same phenomenon—bureaucracy, their approaches can be compared and assessed. Anderson contrasts the distinctive methodological starting points of Weber and Mises and proceeds to a review and discussion of each’s analysis of bureaucracy, both as a theoretical construct as well as a dynamic element within a society’s structural and cultural organization. He finishes with an assessment of the scientific utility of Mises and Weber’s descriptions of bureaucracy, concluding that the dynamism inherent in Mises’s emphasis upon human action offers not only a better description of the emergence of bureaucracy but also a superior scientific and ethical assessment of its dangers.
- “Life, Liberty, and …: Jefferson on Property Rights” by Luigi Marco Bassani. To the surprise of many libertarians, Thomas Jefferson’s legacy in academia has been hijacked by radical egalitarians. Such academics often view Jefferson and Lincoln as intellectual kin, and invoke Jefferson in support of all manner of government interventions and institutions. Bassani challenges this conceit, showing that Jefferson’s intellectual lineage traces to John Locke. He offers extensive quotations from both Jefferson and Locke, and even cites Jefferson’s contemporaries and later thinkers who also find such parallels. In fact, in some cases, Jefferson was attacked for his Lockean lineage, particularly by those favoring massive (or even unlimited) expansion of government—such big-government advocates often found Jefferson’s arguments a hindrance to their plans. Thus, Bassani rescues Jefferson from the egalitarians, and places him firmly in the Lockean libertarian tradition.
