Mark D. White

Mark D. White

The idea for this post (as well as the title) comes from Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution, who writes:

Chris, a loyal MR reader, asks:

I'd like to see you list the top 10 books which have influenced your view of the world.

I'll go with the "gut list," rather than the "I've thought about this for a long time list."  I'll also stress that books are by no means the only source of influence.  The books are in no intended order, although the list came out in a broadly chronological stream.

After providing his top 10 list, he writes, "I would encourage other bloggers to offer similar lists." So here goes (note these are my top 10, not Tyler's, and certainly not my co-bloggers', though I hope they will join me in this).

(A brief note of explanation for something below that may seem self-indulgent, self-congratulatory, or just plain odd: much of my "intellectual development," such that it is, has consisted of having vague intuitions about things like liberty, humility, duty, rights, and the will, and then seeking out confirmation of them among the Great Thinkers, all of whom had already thought through these concepts and did a much better job than I could ever hope to have done.)

1. Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals: Well, duh. (If you don't know me well enough, see here.) I could also list The Metaphysics of Morals, plus books by Thomas E. Hill, Barbara Herman, Christine Korsgaard, H.J. Paton, and more, but I doubt you want to read a Kantian top-10 list. (If you do, just ask!)
2. Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom: This confirmed and extended a lot of my early intuitions on liberty and the relationship between the individual and the state.
3. Gary Becker, The Economic Approach to Human Behavior: Though I've soured on the amoral analysis of the essentially moral topics analyzed herein, this was the book (along with his A Treatise on the Family and Richard Posner's Sex and Reason) that inspired me to go to graduate school for economics.
4. Amartya Sen, On Ethics and Economics: A book that opened up countless new avenues of thought for me, and really set me on my current path (or at least one of them).
5. Amitai Etzioni, The Moral Dimension: Toward a New Economics: While I have some disagreement with the specifics of his models and analysis, Etzioni is up there with Sen as a major influence on my thinking on ethics and economics.
6. John Searle, Rationality in Action: Another book that confirmed and extended intuitions, specifically that something was missng in the determinstic desire-belief (or preference-constraint) model of rationality.
7. John B. Davis, The Theory of the Individual in Economics: Identity and Value: This book was a complete eye-opener for me–I claim no previous intuitions along these lines, and my thinking about the individual has never been the same since.
8. Ronald Dworkin, Taking Rights Seriously: After years of teaching his theory of judicial-making, I've come to believe that it is not only right as far as a matter of law, but it is also serves as a fine model for practical morality (a theme which I plan to explore in future work).
9. Jules Coleman, Markets, Morals, and the Law: This book contains many essential and (IMO) devastating critiques of the economic analysis of law from one of the most original thinkers in legal philosophy, and inspired much of my critical thinking on the field.
10. Lao-Tzu, Tao Te Ching: Possibly the most important book in my life, it influenced me more deeply than I can ever say (though someday I may try, more likely in that other blog).

So what say you, loyal reader (and co-bloggers, hint hint)–what books influenced you the most?