Robert Nozick, who spent most of his career at Harvard University, did original work in metaphysics, epistemology, and decision theory and was interested in topics such as animal rights and Eastern philosophy and religion. But he became one of the most influential thinkers of the late twentieth century with, and will apparently be mainly remembered for, his first book: Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), in which he uses the techniques of analytic philosophy, including counterexamples and bizarre thought experiments, to argue for the libertarian viewpoint in political philosophy.

Nozick was born on 16 November 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, to Russian Jewish immigrants Max Nozick, a manufacturer, and Sophie Cohen Nozick. He attended public grade and high schools in Brooklyn. A leftist like many Jewish New Yorkers, in high school he joined the youth branch of the Socialist Party. His interest in philosophy began around the same time. In the half-page...