Product details
- ISBN 9781041311652
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 30 Nov 2026
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Voluntarism and Self-Interest: Psychological Foundations and Panarchist Visions in Libertarian Anarchism investigates a central question in political philosophy: what, if anything, makes political authority legitimate? The book argues that theories of political legitimacy should be evaluated primarily in terms of their practical relevance—whether individuals have instrumental reasons to endorse them. Drawing on findings from experimental psychology about the prevalence of selfish motivations, it develops the claim that the most compelling theory of legitimacy must be one that effectively serves predominantly selfish desires.
Through a systematic analysis of competing accounts of legitimacy, the book argues that express consent theory offers the strongest fit with this motivational structure. It then explores the institutional implications of this conclusion by examining panarchist proposals for voluntary, non-territorial systems of governance that follow from a consistent application of consent theory.
Bringing together analytic political philosophy, conceptual analysis, experimental psychology, and the history of libertarian thought, this book will be of interest to scholars and students of political theory, political philosophy, anarchist studies, and libertarianism, as well as readers concerned with the foundations and future of political authority.
Davide Saracino is a scholar in political theory who obtained his PhD from the University of Milan. His research focuses on express consent theory in political legitimacy and on panarchist theories of voluntary non-territorial statehood. His recent publications include “Life Sentence or Death Penalty? The Normative Case for Letting Criminals Pick Their Poison”, forthcoming in Res Publica (2026), and “The Birth of Panarchism: Voluntary Non-Territorial States in the Works of Gustave De Molinari and Paul Émile De Puydt”, published in European Journal of Political Theory (2025).
