Lysander Spooner

Lysander Spooner
Born(1808-01-19)January 19, 1808
Athol, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 14, 1887(1887-05-14) (aged 79)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationEntrepreneur, lawyer and writer
NationalityAmerican
SubjectPolitical philosophy
Notable worksThe Unconstitutionality of Slavery (1845)
No Treason (1867)

Philosophy career
Era19th-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolIusnaturalism
Main interests

Lysander Spooner (January 19, 1808 — May 14, 1887) was an American abolitionist, entrepreneur, lawyer, essayist, natural rights legal theorist, pamphletist, political philosopher, and writer often associated with the Boston anarchist tradition.

Spooner was a strong advocate of the labor movement and is politically identified with individualist anarchism.[1][2] His writings contributed to the development of both left-libertarian and right-libertarian political theory.[3] Spooner's writings include the abolitionist book The Unconstitutionality of Slavery and No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, which opposed treason charges against secessionists.[4][5]

He is known for establishing the American Letter Mail Company, which competed with the United States Postal Service.

  1. ^ Rosemont, Henry Jr. (2015). Against Individualism: A Confucian Rethinking of the Foundations of Morality, Politics, Family, and Religion. Lanham: Lexington Books. p. 78. ISBN 978-0739199817.
  2. ^ Marshall 2008, pp. 387–389.
  3. ^ Marshall 2008, p. 389.
  4. ^ Smith 1992, p. xix.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barnett 2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).