Hans-Hermann Hoppe

Hans-Hermann Hoppe (born in Peine, 1949) is a German philosopher and economist associated with the Austrian School, anarcho-capitalism and paleolibertarianism. His work belongs to the radical liberal tradition that runs from Ludwig von Mises to Murray Rothbard, to which he adds a Kantian-inspired foundation and a theory of discourse ethics. He matters because he tries to show that libertarianism is not merely a political preference but a logical requirement.

His parents had settled in Peine in 1946 after fleeing the part of eastern Germany under Soviet occupation. He studied in Saarbrücken, Frankfurt and Ann Arbor, and took his doctorate in philosophy at Goethe University in 1974, where he worked under Jürgen Habermas, whose ideas he later rejected. In 1986 he moved to the United States to work with Rothbard, who helped him secure a post at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he taught until retiring in 2008. In 2006 he founded the Property and Freedom Society.

His thought rests on three levels. In methodology, he argues that economics should rest on a priori categories, as Mises held with praxeology, rather than on empirical positivism. In ethics, his best-known argument holds that the non-aggression principle is presupposed by any rational argument, so denying it is a performative contradiction. In political theory, he regards the state as a territorial monopoly over jurisdiction and taxation, and democracy, with its temporary mandates, as encouraging plunder. He prefers dynastic monarchy, which he likens to a homeowner rather than a tenant. He also proposes private-law societies and covenant communities that may exclude.

His views on democracy, homosexuality and race, and his appearances alongside white nationalists, have drawn criticism both inside and outside libertarianism. His influence is most visible in paleolibertarian circles and in debates about the relationship between liberalism and conservatism.