1. Explain how the states arise from anarchy according to Nozick. States can arise from anarchy because people support what he calls private protection services (PPS) or in the market, and this is done out of their own free will.
A state can develop from a free market where a large group of what he calls private defense agencies can lead to a monopoly provider, and that provider will protect individual rights. So, in simple terms, a state could arise from anarchy without being morally offensive. The anarchy is really people making decisions on their own.
Also, the minimal state may arise in order to protect individuals from one another and from external threats. 2. What role does an invisible hand explanation play in the emergence of dominant protective organization? A series of “ invisible hand” processes which do not violate anyone’s rights can give rise to a legitimate “ minimal state. ” What this means is that most people will judge that they need the best and biggest provider to protect them from external threats.
Therefore, they will go to whichever firm is perceived as the strongest, and this domino effect will mean that a particular firm ends up with a larger share of the market. So, actually, the “ invisible hand” is really individual free will which, without being intended to necessarily, promotes the good of society. It guides the free market and capitalism through competition for scarce and limited resources and individual choice. 3.
Why does Nozick consider the invisible hand explanation so important? A state arises out of a process that begins with the “ invisible hand,” or people’s free use of the services of a particular agency that will eventually take on the features of a state. Really, the “ invisible hand” is an agency’s success based on its popularity, which in turn leads to greater use by more individuals. In a sense, it is much like the electoral process because it is governed by the choice of the many over the few. Distributions in society arise by way of the “ invisible hand,” and Nozick thinks it is our failure to take it seriously that leads us to over-estimate the ability of politics to alter the world as well as to respect the rights of citizens!