The Law
by Frédéric Bastiat · first published 1950
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, readable 1850 essay on the fundamental purpose of law and the proper role of government; recommended as an accessible classical-liberal primer that can be finished in a weekend, even in under an hour as audio.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…Sanderson. I highly recommend it if you're into fantasy type novels. It has a unique magic system and is very well written. I've been off and on with War and Peace for a while. Kind of dry so far. Kindle: The Law by Frederic Bastiat, extremely good book describing the fundamental purpose of law and government. Dead Tree: Essence of Discrete Mathematics by Neville Dean, seems to be pretty good book, just haven't…
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading” ↗The Law by Frédéric Bastiat [1] Weighing in at 75 pages, you can read this 176 year old classic in a weekend. For some reason Locke's Second Treatise on Government made it into the canon as the be-and-end-all…
on “Ask HN: What was the one book that you read and it actually changed your life?” ↗The Law - Frédéric Bastiat, 1850 [1] Bastiat was a great French Economist and liberal political philosopher. He been considered as more of a popularizer than an original thinker, but that's unwarranted. The…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…large. All of this is ultimately just me paraphrasing Bastiat, so for anyone who isn't already familiar with his works, and who finds anything interesting in this line of thinking, I suggest reading The Law[1]. [1]: http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
on “The Cyberpunk Sensibility (2016)” ↗…Adam Smith - Das Kapital, Karl Marx - That Which Is Seen, and That Which Is Not Seen, Frederic Bastiat Philosophy / Politics: - The Republic, Plato - Second Treatise on Government, John Locke - The Law, Frederic Bastiat - Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes - Meditations, Marcus Aurelius - Democracy in America, Alexis de Toqueville - On Liberty, John Stuart Mill Fiction: - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite books or essays written at least 100 years ago?” ↗The law does not define what's ethical. Mao, Stalin and many other authorities acted strictly inside the law and yet commited massive attrocities. Frederic Bastiat wrote a short book "The Law" where he elaborates…
on “Can Artificial Intelligence Be Ethical?” ↗- Anatomy of the State by Murray Rothbard - What has government done to our money? by Murray Rothbard - For a New Liberty by Murray Rothbard - The Law by Frederick Bastiat The world is a rotten place thanks to politicians, and at the same time the world is a beautiful place in spite of politicians.
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗…Down Wall Street" by Butron Malkiel, "Liberalismus" by Ludwig von Mises, "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, "A Treatise of Human Nature" by David Hume, "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman, "The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat, "Autobiography" by Benjamin Franklin, "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, "Gespräche mit Goethe" by Johann Peter Eckermann, "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau, "The Old Regime and the Revolution"…
on “Ask HN: What's one book that changed your life?” ↗…few books on the subject that I'd suggest to you: Lysander Spooner, No Treason The Constitution of No Authority https://oll-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/titles/2194/Spooner_1... Frédéric Bastiat, The Law https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44800 Murray N. Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty https://mises.org/library/ethics-liberty
on “Infection fatality rate of Covid-19 inferred from seroprevalence data [pdf]” ↗Fredric Bastiat - "The Law" - http://www.freeaudio.org/fbastiat/thelaw.html (audio book) http://www.amazon.com/Law-Frederick-Bastiat/dp/1933550147/ (5 stars with 83 reviews so it's not just me) It'll only take about forty minutes…
on “Ask YC: Road trip. Which audio books would you recommend?” ↗…New World - Aldous Huxley Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand Foundation Trilogy -Isaac Asimov The Game: Penetrating The Secret Society of Pickup Artists - Neil Strauss The Law - Frédéric Bastiat Thus Spoke Zarathustra - Friedrich Nietzsche The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress - Robert Heinlein Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Katie Hafner & John Markoff…
on “Ask HN: what non technical books changed your life ?” ↗Another vote for Atlas Shrugged. And like you, I found it put a lot of things I already felt, properly, albeit at times rather verbosely. Along with this, I would insist on The Law, by Frederic Bastiat. Written in 1850, this book still wows me.
on “If you could give a book to your younger self, what would it be?” ↗The Law - Frédéric Bastiat. http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html Capitalism - A Treatise on Economics - George Reisman. http://www.capitalism.net/Capitalism/CAPITALISM_Internet.pdf The Works of Lysander Spooner.…
on “Ask HN: What are your recommended reads that are available for free?” ↗"The Law" by Frédéric Bastiat (http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html or various PDFs floating around the web) Times change, people do not
on “Ask HN: What are the most thought-provoking books that you have read?” ↗Spooner's essays on the Jury representing the whole people (not merely the majority), and the criminal intent, are among the most important political writings. Comparable to Bastiat's "The Law." I recommend "The Lysander Spooner Reader" -- and make sure you read it all. Frankly I don't really believe anyone is educated enough to even have an informed discussion on politics if they aren't familiar…
on “No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority (1870)” ↗