David Ramsay Steele (born 23 June 1944) is the author of ''The Mystery of Fascism: David Ramsay Steele's Greatest Hits'' (2019, a collection of 23 previously published articles), ''Orwell Your Orwell: A Worldview on the Slab'' (2017, a study of
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...
's beliefs), ''Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy'' (2008, a popular exposition of
atheism
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
) and ''From Marx to Mises: Post-Capitalist Society and the Challenge of Economic Calculation'' (1992, an exposition of the
economic calculation problem). Since 1985, he has been Editorial Director of
Open Court Publishing Company. In 1997, he co-wrote with Michael R. Edelstein ''Three Minute Therapy: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life,'' a psychological self-help book based on
Albert Ellis's
rational emotive behavior therapy, re-released in paperback, 2019. In 2013, he co-wrote with Michael R. Edelstein and Richard K. Kujoth ''Therapy Breakthrough: Why Some Psychotherapies Work Better than Others,'' a study of cognitive-behavioral therapy arguing for its superiority to psychodynamic therapy. From 1963 to 1973, Steele was a member of the
Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB).
In 1970, he became aware of the historical debate over economic calculation and between 1970 and 1973 underwent an intellectual conversion from
SPGB Marxism to
libertarianism
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...
. He later co-founded the
Libertarian Alliance
The Libertarian Alliance (LA) refers to two libertarian think tanks in the UK. Originally one organisation, it split in 1982. One Libertarian Alliance was renamed "Mises UK" in 2017; the remaining Libertarian Alliance holds regular meetings in ...
and in 1982 would be identified with one of the two factions that resulted in the split of the group.
Works
Books
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Other
* "Smash Cash", ''
Oz'', issue 17 (December 1968
Smash Cash
"Posing the Problem: The Impossibility of Economic Calculation Under Socialism" ''Journal of Libertarian Studies'' volume 5 #1 ( Winter 1981) pp 7–22.
"The Failure of Bolshevism and Its Aftermath" ''Journal of Libertarian Studies'' volume 5 #1 (Winter 1981) pp 99–111.
"Attempted Theft of an Organisation" ''The Journal of the Libertarian Alliance'' volume 3 #3 (1983).
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Hayek's Theory of Cultural Group Selection, ''Journal of Libertarian Studies'' volume 8 #2.
"Karl Marx: Das Kapital: From Capitalist Exploitation to Communist Revolution"Great Economic Thinkers (sound recording, 1988).
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* "Partial Recall", ''Liberty'' volume 7 #3 (1994).
* "Why Stop at Term Limits?", ''National Review'' volume 47 #17 (1995).
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* "Between Immorality and Unfeasibility: The Market Socialist Predicament", ''Critical Review'' v10 #3 (1996).
* "Yes, Gambling Is Productive and Rational", ''Liberty'' (1997), reprinted in ''A Rhetoric of Argument'' by Jeanne Fahnestock and Marie Secor.
* "The Strange Life of Murray Rothbard", ''Liberty'' (2000).
"Alice in Wonderland: A Review of ''The Passion of Ayn Rand'' by Barbara Branden" ''Free Life'' (2001).
"The Mystery of Fascism" ''Liberty'' (2001).
"Porn, Rape and Justice"(15 April 2001).
* ''Genius – In their Own Words: The Intellectual Journeys of Seven Great 20th-Century Thinkers'' (editor, 2002).
* "An Unexpected Discovery", ''Liberty'' v16 #7 (2002).
"Ayn Rand and the Curse of Kant" ''Liberty'' v16 #8 (2002).
* "The Sacred Element", ''Liberty'' v17 #3 (2003).
"My Orwell Right or Wrong" ''Liberty'' v17 #5 (2003).
''Liberty'' v17 #11 (2003).
"Life, Liberty, and the Treadmill" ''Liberty'' (2005).
* "Why and When Should We Rely on Scientific Experts?" in Heldke et al., ''The Atkins Diet and Philosophy'' (2005).
* "Marxism" in Tom Flynn (ed), ''The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief'' (2007).
* "Marx, Karl Heinrich" in Tom Flynn (ed), ''The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief'' (2007).
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* "Will Emerging Media Create a Collective Mind?" in Juliet Floyd and James E. Katz, eds., ''Philosophy of Emerging Media: Understanding, Appreciation, Application'' (2016).
* "What Follows from the Nonexistence of Mental Illness?" in Jeffrey A. Schaler, Henry Zvi Lothane, and Richard E. Vatz, eds., ''Thomas S. Szasz: The Man and His Ideas'' (2017).
* "How I Could Have Made Hillary President" in Daniel Yim, Galen Foresman, and Robert Arp (eds) ''Scott Adams and Philosophy: A Hole in the Fabric of Reality'' (2018).
* "Is It a Fact that Facts Don't Matter?" in Daniel Yim, Galen Foresman, and Robert Arp (eds) ''Scott Adams and Philosophy: A Hole in the Fabric of Reality'' (2018).
* "Scott Adams and the Pinocchio Fallacy" in Daniel Yim, Galen Foresman, and Robert Arp (eds) ''Scott Adams and Philosophy: A Hole in the Fabric of Reality'' (2018).
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, David Ramsay
1944 births
Living people
Atheist philosophers
British atheists
British libertarians
British male writers
Clinical psychologists
Former Marxists