A teoria política do Estado em Robert Nozick

: o Estado mínimo e a justiça

Abstract

The present work aims at analysing the central issue of the political construction of the State in political philosophy. In a great number of nations, life in society is currently organised around the Western pattern of the democratic law-governed State, within whose scope politics in its dimension of all-encompassing power earned a crucial role. Thinkers in this field of knowledge have tried to elucidate the origins of the State and the rise of its political and social responsibilities, as well as the relation between the State and the individual from the standpoint of Justice and individual rights. In the context of recent philosophical and political thinking, we endeavoured to study the conception of State outlined by Robert Nozick. To that end, we have undertaken to situate the author, as well as his libertarianism, in the framework of modern and contemporary theories of political philosophy. We then proceeded to approach the relations between the minimal State of Nozick and the different strands of Justice, whose cornerstone are individual rights. We have concurrently touched upon the issue of democratic rights and the role of morals as the foundation of Justice. By and large, we did not back away from weaving our own considerations on the relevance of Robert Nozick's approach and from putting Nozickian thought into critical perspective as regards the current paradigm.

Date of Award	23 Jul 2015
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Miguel Stadler Dias Costa (Supervisor)