General Introduction

Congratulations on enrolling in Cato University! You have embarked on a carefully paced program of study that we hope will provide you with greater knowledge and insight, as well as a deeper appreciation of the American heritage of constitutionally limited government and of the moral imperative of defending and advancing it.

This program has been designed to offer a comprehensive overview of the long and noble tradition of "classical liberal," or libertarian, thinking that informed the American Revolution and that informs the work of the Cato Institute today. It is offered only to Sponsors of the Cato Institute--people who, by becoming Sponsors, have demonstrated their commitment to the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, and peace. Precisely because Cato’s Sponsors are in the wealth-producing sector of society, they tend to be busy people, with many demands on their time. Accordingly, the curriculum of Cato University has been designed to allow such busy people the opportunity to delve deeply into the historical, philosophical, economic, legal, and moral foundations of the movement for individual liberty and limited government. The curriculum is built around two audiocassettes per module and a set of readings keyed to the issues raised in the audiocassettes. (The cassettes are sent monthly, allowing you to pace yourself at one module per month; if, however, you find that you "miss" a month, you have not "fallen behind," as this program is entirely self-paced.) This Study Guide indicates the "assigned" readings, all of which are drawn from books provided as part of your Cato University curriculum, as well as additional recommendations for those who wish to pursue particular subjects further.

You have received with your Study Guide two cassette tapes, a cassette binder capable of holding twenty-four tapes, and the following books:

Libertarianism: A Primer, by David Boaz
The Libertarian Reader, David Boaz, ed.
Freedom and the Law, by Bruno Leoni
Economics in One Lesson, by Henry Hazlitt
How the West Grew Rich, by Nathan Rosenberg and L. E. Birdzell, Jr.
From Magna Carta to the Constitution: Documents in the Struggle for Liberty, David Brooks, ed.

The curriculum is divided into twelve modules; you will receive two cassettes every month. Of course, you can proceed at whatever pace you choose. We recommend that you follow the program in the sequence provided. Except for the first module, which provides a general thematic treatment of issues and thinkers that will be explored in greater detail in subsequent modules, the material is roughly chronological in order.

The twelve modules are as follows:

  1. The Ideas of Liberty
  2. John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government
  3. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence
  4. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (Part I)
  5. Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (Part II)
  6. The Constitution of the United States of America
  7. The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments to the Constitution
  8. John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty & Vindication of the Rights of Woman
  9. Civil Disobedience and The Liberator
  10. The Achievements of Nineteenth-Century Classical Liberalism
  11. The "Austrian" Case for the Free Market
  12. The Modern Quest for Liberty

The readings for each module are divided into three categories. The first category, "Readings to Accompany These Tapes," is items that are part of the library that you have received with this Study Guide. The second category, "Suggested Additional Reading," is mainly items that are not included in the library you received and is intended for those who want to learn more about the topics covered in the tapes and the first set of readings. The third category, "For Further Study," is intended for those with a very strong interest in learning more about the topics covered in the tapes and the associated readings. All of the items in the second and third categories are books, which should be available from most libraries; some are out of print and may be difficult to purchase. (For those that are in print, excellent sources are Laissez Faire Books, which can be reached at 938 Howard Street, Suite 202, San Francisco, CA 94103, phone 800-326-0996, http://www.lfb.org, and Amazon.com, which can be reached at http://www.amazon.com.) No academic journal articles have been included, because they are normally difficult to obtain without access to a university research library.

We recommend that you first listen to the tapes and then undertake the readings, but that is by no means necessary. Each set of readings is followed by a short list of "Problems to Ponder" that deserve further thought.

Those who desire a more detailed guide to additional study are advised to consult the 38-page essay on "The Literature of Liberty" by Tom G. Palmer in The Libertarian Reader. For even more detail, or for suggestions on particular topics, please write to Tom G. Palmer at the Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 (catouniversity@cato.org) and identify yourself as a Cato Institute Sponsor and Cato University enrollee.

Note: Some of the material presented in the tapes was commissioned specifically for the Cato University; these include the tapes for modules 1, 10, and 12. Others were adapted from material that had been prepared by Knowledge Products, a division of Carmichael and Carmichael, a Sponsor of the Cato Institute; the scripts were written and edited by scholars associated with the Cato Institute. (Additional sophisticated audiotapes on the U.S. Constitution, philosophy, religion, political thought, morality, science and discovery, foreign affairs, and other topics are available from Knowledge Products, P. O. Box 100340, Nashville, TN 37210, 1-800-876-4332 and e-mail kpaudio@edge.net. Be sure to mention that you are a Cato Institute Sponsor.)

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