The Myth of Natural Rights: The Portable L.A. Rollins | L.A Rollins

“A powerful...assault on one of classical liberalism’s chief myths.” —Jeff Riggenach George H. Smith once described The Myth of Natural Rights as “a scathing, all-out attack.” This was not hyperbole. First published in 1983 by Loompanics Unlimited, L.A. Rollins’ incisive monograph sought not merely to dethrone the doctrine of natural law that had come to dominate libertarian discourse, but to upend the very foundations of moral philosophy. Describing himself as an “amoralist” and an “egoist of sorts,” Rollins echoed Stirner alone in his insouciant refusal to genuflect before the reigning pieties of intellectual fashion. While few readers would embrace Rollins’ intractable moral skepticism, his short book struck a powerful chord. As the text was discussed and occasionally reviewed in marginal periodicals, it gathered an almost scandalous aura, eliciting both approbation and excoriation for its lacerating critique of natural rights theory – particularly as exposited by such libertari