Anarchy, State, and Utopia

Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974) is the foundational libertarian work in analytic political philosophy, arguing that only a minimal state is justified and that taxation for redistribution is a violation of rights.

Nozick argues from self-ownership that the minimal night-watchman state is the only legitimate form of government; redistributive taxation is morally equivalent to forced labor; and a distribution is just if it arises from just acquisition and voluntary transfer regardless of the resulting inequality.