Gary William Chartier (born 1966) Gary Chartier is a legal scholar, philosopher, political theorist, and theologian. His work addresses anarchism and ethics. Chartier is a professor and serves as associate dean of
La Sierra University
La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Li ...
's business school.
Early life
Chartier was born in 1966, in
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
, and raised in a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
Protestant (
Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
) home. His father was an accountant and physician. In high school, Chartier became interested in
economic libertarian
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism, ...
authors, following his father's ideological lean.
He received his
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
from
La Sierra University
La Sierra University (La Sierra or LSU) is a private, Seventh-day Adventist university in Riverside, California. Founded in 1922 as La Sierra Academy, it later became La Sierra College, a liberal arts college, and then was merged into Loma Li ...
in 1987 and his Ph.D. from the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in 1991.
Academic career
After working as the editor of a newspaper in
Temecula, California
Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...
, Chartier enrolled at the
UCLA School of Law
The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...
, graduating with a
J.D. in 2001. During his legal studies, he served as a lecturer in business ethics at La Sierra and began a full-time academic appointment there in September 2001. In 2015, the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
presented Chartier with an earned
higher doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
, an
LLD, in recognition of his work in legal theory. He is currently Associate Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law and Business Ethics at La Sierra's Zapara School of Business.
[''Reason'' staff (February 13, 2012]
" 'Markets Not Capitalism', Says Professor Gary Chartier"
Reason.com
Philosophy
Chartier advocates for a variant of natural law thinking, which he has employed in discussions of
anarchism
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...
, economic life, and the moral status and claims of non-human animals. Other topics he has discussed include
sexuality
Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...
and
lying
A lie is an assertion that is believed to be false, typically used with the purpose of deception, deceiving or Deception, misleading someone. The practice of communicating lies is called lying. A person who communicates a lie may be termed a l ...
.
Kevin Carson
Kevin Carson is an American political writer and blogger. While he originally identified as a mutualist, Richman, Sheldon (February 3, 2011"Libertarian Left: Free-market anti-capitalism, the unknown ideal" ''The American Conservative''. he now des ...
's work, in particular, provided a model for Chartier's reconciliation of his
leftist politics with opposition to the state, and helped him to combine
left-libertarian market anarchism
Free-market anarchism, or market anarchism, also known as free-market anti-capitalism and free-market socialism, is the branch of anarchism that advocates a free-market economic system based on voluntary interactions without the involvement ...
with insights from
natural law
Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
theory.
Reception
Reviewing ''Anarchy and Legal Order'' in ''Common Knowledge'',
Peter Leeson
Peter T. Leeson (born July 29, 1979) is an American economist and the Duncan Black Professor of Economics and Law at George Mason University. The website Big Think listed him in 2012 among "Eight of the World's Top Young Economists". He is a Fello ...
described it as "intriguing" and classed it "among the most sophisticated ethical defenses of anarchy I have encountered." In ''Anarchist Studies'', Eric Roark wrote: "Gary Chartier's ''Anarchy and Legal Order'' offers nothing less than a tremendous contribution to contemporary libertarian and anarchist thought." Roark highlighted what he characterized as a "compelling and rich vision of anarchy forged by a just legal regime." Edward Stringham characterized the book as "well written, thought provoking, and a welcome addition to the literature."
Aeon Skoble of
Bridgewater State University
Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU ha ...
suggested in a ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'' review that Chartier's "arguments
n the book
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
are laid out with such elegance and precision that any intelligent lay reader should be able to understand them." Skoble writes: "''Anarchy and Legal Order'' is an impressive contribution to libertarian thought generally, and in particular to the ongoing debates on anarchism versus minarchism and on libertarianism's place vis-a-vis the left/right dichotomy. It's a must-read for those interested in political philosophy, and it may well challenge readers' long-held beliefs about the nature of government." In a symposium in ''Studies in Emergent Order'' devoted to the book, Skoble added: "Chartier's argument demonstrates not only that natural law theory is compatible with spontaneous order theory, but also that what this confluence points to is a voluntary, polycentric legal order. The book is thus valuable not only for offering a robust defense of polycentrism, but for doing so in a way that ties together two important threads from the liberal tradition, natural law and spontaneous order, and in doing so, enhances our understanding of both." Also writing in the symposium,
Jason Brennan
Jason F. Brennan (born 1979) is an American philosopher and business professor. He is currently the Robert J. and Elizabeth Flanagan Family Professor of Strategy, Economics, Ethics, and Public Policy at the McDonough School of Business at George ...
criticized Chartier's reliance on the controversial
new natural law theory and objected to his embrace of the theory's view that basic aspects of well-being are incommensurable, a view Brennan suggested led to counterintuitive, implausible conclusions. While expressing some concerns about the feasibility of Chartier's proposals, Paul Dragos Aligica concluded: "''Anarchy and Legal Order'' is currently the book to read if one wants to explore the potential and limits of natural law, non-aggression maxim,
praxeology
In philosophy, praxeology or praxiology (; ) is the theory of human action, based on the notion that humans engage in purposeful behavior, contrary to reflexive behavior and other unintentional behavior.
French social philosopher Alfred Espinas g ...
based doctrines of stateless social order. Austrian scholars of all persuasions will benefit immensely from engaging with its arguments and the intellectual precedent it creates."
St. John's University economist
Charles Clarke
Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.
Early life
Th ...
criticized ''Economic Justice and Natural Law'' anarchism, evaluating it as insufficiently attentive to the need for governmental involvement in the economy and as unduly similar in tone to the work of
Austrian economists
The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian school ...
. The book was the focus of a
Molinari Molinari is an Italian language occupational surname for a miller. Notable people with this surname include:
* Adriana Molinari, American (née Argentine) pornographic actress
* Alberto Molinari (born 1965), Italian actor, producer, and director
* ...
Society session at the April 2011
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
convention of the
American Philosophical Association
The American Philosophical Association (APA) is the main professional organization for philosophers in the United States. Founded in 1900, its mission is to promote the exchange of ideas among philosophers, to encourage creative and scholarly ...
's Pacific Division.
''The Analogy of Love'' received mixed reviews. In the course of a tepidly favorable assessment,
Timothy Gorringe
Timothy Jervis Gorringe (born 1946) is an English Anglican priest and theologian who is St Luke's Professor of Theological Studies at the University of Exeter, Devon, England.
''Public theology for the 21st century: essays'',
Duncan B. For ...
maintained that some passages disposed him to "reach for the whiskey bottle," though he also observed that the book did "not parade its erudition" and suggested that it was "consistently on the side of the angels." Paul Ballard described ''Analogy'' as "extremely well informed and researched," as "comprehensive," and as "rich, sensitive and insightful." Ballard evaluated the book's "style of presentation" as "remarkably lucid and jargon free" and as "spare, simple, direct and logical, cutting to the heart of a discussion." Mike Higton of the
University of Durham
Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...
observes that “Chartier draws on impressively wide reading in the modern secondary literature . . . .” While unconvinced by Chartier’s depiction of God as a moral agent, and evidently doubtful about his greater reliance on contemporary than on biblical or classical sources, Higton suggests that “his insistence on coming back again and again to love is salutary, and the book as a whole issues a thought-provoking challenge to take love seriously in every domain of theology.”
Selected publications
Authored books
* ''The Analogy of Love: Divine and Human Love at the Center of Christian Theology''. Exeter: Imprint Academic (2007) . . . 2d. ed. Ann Arbor, MI: Griffin 2017.
* ''Economic Justice and Natural Law''. Cambridge: CUP (2009)
* ''The Conscience of an Anarchist''. Apple Valley, CA: Cobden (2011) .
* ''Anarchy and Legal Order: Law and Politics for a Stateless Society''. New York: CUP (2013) .
* ''Radicalizing Rawls: Global Justice and the Foundations of International Law''. Philosophy, Public Policy, and Transnational Law 2. New York: Palgrave (2014)
* ''Vulnerability and Community: Meditations on the Spiritual Life''. Ann Arbor, MI: Griffin (2015)
* ''Public Practice, Private Law: An Essay on Love, Marriage, and the State''. New York: CUP (2016)
* ''The Logic of Commitment''. New York: Routledge (2018)
* ''An Ecological Theory of Free Expression''. New York: Palgrave (2018)
* ''A Good Life in the Market: An Introduction to Business Ethics''. Great Barrington, MA: American Institute for Economic Research (2019)
* ''Flourishing Lives: Exploring Natural Law Liberalism''. New York: CUP (2019)
* ''The Idea of an Adventist University''. New York: Griffin (2020)
* ''Understanding Friendship: On the Moral, Political, and Spiritual Meaning of Love''. Minneapolis: Fortress (2022)
* ''Loving Creation: The Task of the Moral Life''. Minneapolis: Fortress (2022)
Edited books
* Chartier, Gary, and Johnson, Charles W., eds. ''Markets Not Capitalism: Individualist Anarchism against Bosses, Inequality, Corporate Power, and Structural Poverty''. New York: Minor Compositions-Autonomedia (2011).
* ''The Future of Adventism: Theology, Society, Experience.'' Ann Arbor, MI: Griffin (2015)
* Hart, David M., Chartier, Gary, Kenyon, Ross Miller, and Long, Roderick T., eds. ''Social Class and State Power: Exploring an Alternative Radical Tradition''. New York: Palgrave (2018)
* Chartier, Gary, and Van Schoelandt, Chad, eds. ''The Routledge Handbook of Anarchy and Anarchist Thought''. New York: Routledge (2020)
References
External links
Blogger.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chartier, Gary
1966 births
Living people
20th-century American essayists
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Alumni of the University of Cambridge
American anarchists
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