| ONLINE ARCHIVES | EDITOR/MODERATOR | OLD BLOGS | BOOKS | Forthcoming | ARTICLES | Forthcoming | Biographical | Rights Theory/Libertarian Theory| Intellectual Property | FICTION/UNPUBLISHED/MISCELLANY | SHORTER/BLOGS/UNPUBLISHED ESSAYS | UNPUBLISHED/DRAFT | LEGAL PUBLICATIONS | TRANSLATIONS |
Online Archives/Media
- Freedom and Law: Kinsella Substack
- My Amazon Author Page
- Mises Institute media
- Mises Institute publications (including: Mises Daily, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics)
- LewRockwell.com articles and blog posts (2003–2011)
- Kinsella posts on the Mises Blog
- Kinsella posts on Against Monopoly blog
- SSRN Author’s Page
- ResearchGate papers and profile/citations
- Academiua.edu mentions (many false positives)
- Google Scholar citations/stats
- LibertarianGuide Wiki and Links
Editor/Moderator
- Executive Editor and Founder, Libertarian Papers, 2009–2019 (Editor, 2009-2011; Executive Editor, 2012–2019)
- Book Review Editor, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 2000–2004
Old Blogs
Books
Libertarian
- A Life in Liberty: Liber Amicorum in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, edited by Jörg Guido Hülsmann & Stephan Kinsella (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2024)
- Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023) (Sept. 21, 2023)
- Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, co-editor, with Jörg Guido Hülsmann (Mises Institute, 2009)
- Against Intellectual Property (Mises Institute, 2008)
Forthcoming
Legal
- International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution, Second Edition, co-author, with Noah D. Rubins and Thomas N. Papanastasiou (April 2, 2020, Oxford University Press, 2020) (Amazon) (Third Edition forthcoming 2026)
- Louisiana Civil Law Dictionary (Quid Pro Books, 2011; co-author: Gregory Rome)
- International Investment, Political Risk, and Dispute Resolution: A Practitioner’s Guide, co-author (with Noah D. Rubins) (Oxford University Press, 2005) (Book Reviews)
- Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk, co-author (with Paul E. Comeaux) (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1997) (Book Reviews/Related Links)
- Digest of Commercial Laws of the World, Editor (Oxford University Press, 1998-2011; West/Thomson Reuters 2011–2013)
- World Online Business Law, Co-Editor (with Andrew Simpson, Hong Kong) (Oxford University Press, 2003-2011)
- Online Contract Formation, Co-Editor (with Andrew Simpson, Hong Kong) (Oxford University Press, August 2004) (brochure)
- Trademark Practice and Forms, Editor (Oxford University Press, 2001-2011; West/Thomson Reuters 2011-2013)
Articles & Chapters
Forthcoming
- “The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract,” in David Howden, ed., Palgrave Handbook of Misesian Austrian Economics (Palgrave, forthcoming 2025), part of the Palgrave Studies in Austrian Economics Book series
- Stephan Kinsella, “The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract,” Papian Press Working Paper #1 (Sep. 7, 2024)
- Stephan Kinsella, “The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract,” Papian Press Working Paper #1 (Sep. 7, 2024)
- “The Case Against Intellectual Property,” in Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics, 2nd ed., Christoph Lütge & Marianne Thejls Ziegler, eds. (Springer, forthcoming 2025; Robert McGee, section ed.), update of “The Case Against Intellectual Property,” in Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics (Prof. Dr. Christoph Lütge, ed.; Springer, 2013) (chapter 68, in Part 18, “Property Rights: Material and Intellectual,” Robert McGee, section ed.)
Biographical
- About page (StephanKinsella.com)
- About page (KinsellaLaw.com)
- How I Became A Libertarian, LewRockwell.com (Dec. 18, 2002) (also in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023))
- Memories of Meeting Rothbard in 1994 (Sept. 11, 2024)
- Libertarian Projects in 1995 (Sept. 11, 2024)
- KOL302 | Human Action Podcast with Jeff Deist: Hoppe’s Democracy (Oct. 23, 2020)
- What Sparked Your Interest in Liberty?, FEE.org (April 21, 2016)
- The Genesis of Estoppel: My Libertarian Rights Theory (Mar. 22, 2016)
- My Failed Libertarian Speaking Hiatus; Memories of Mises Institute and Other Events, 1988–2015 (Feb. 29, 2016)
- Interview by The Libertarian (Keir Martland) (May 10, 2013)
- “Stephan Kinsella on the Logic of Libertarianism and Why Intellectual Property Doesn’t Exist,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (March 18, 2012)
- New Publisher, Co-Editor for my Legal Treatise, and how I got started with legal publishing KinsellaLaw.com (Sep. 27, 2011)
- “Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella” (Feb. 11, 2011)
- “Bodrum Days and Nights: The Fifth Annual Meeting of the Property and Freedom Society: A Partial Report,” The Libertarian Standard (June 16, 2010)
- My Religious and Political Conversions (April 24, 2015)
- Libertarians & the Religious Right: an Interview with Stephan Kinsella, by Alberto Mingardi, Laissez Faire City Times, v. 2.39 (1999)
- My IP Odyssey (May 30, 2013)
Rights Theory/Libertarian Theory
- “The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract,” Papian Press Working Paper #1 (Sep. 7, 2024)
- “Selling Does Not Imply Ownership, and Vice-Versa: A Dissection,” The Libertarian Standard (Oct. 25, 2022); also at my Freedom and Law substack
- Stateless Justice: A Response to Mario Demolidor (2020)
- Interview of Williamson Evers on the Title-Transfer Theory of Contract (Aug. 5, 2014) (KOL146)
- Transcripts for “Libertarian Legal Theory: Property, Conflict, and Society” (Mises Academy, Jan. 31–March 7, 2011)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 1: Libertarian Basics: Rights and Law,” Mises Academy, Jan. 31, 2011 (KOL018)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 2: Libertarian Basics: Rights and Law-Continued,” Mises Academy, Feb. 7, 2011 (KOL019)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 3: Applications I: Legal Systems, Contract, Fraud,” Mises Academy, Feb. 14, 2011 (KOL020)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 4: Causation, Aggression, Responsibility,” Mises Academy, Feb. 21, 2011 (KOL021)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 5: Intellectual Property and Related,” Mises Academy, Feb. 28, 2011 (KOL022)
- “Libertarian Legal Theory, Lecture 6: Applications Continued; Common Libertarian Mistakes (Fraud Etc.),” Mises Academy, March 7, 2011 (KOL023)
- Transcripts for “The Social Theory of Hoppe” (Mises Academy, July 11–Aug. 15, 2011)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 1: Property Foundations,” Mises Academy, July 11, 2011 (KOL153)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 2: Types of Socialism and the Origin of the State,” Mises Academy, July 18, 2011 (KOL154)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 3: Libertarian Rights and Argumentation Ethics,” Mises Academy, July 25, 2011 (KOL155)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 4: Epistemology, Methodology, and Dualism; Knowledge, Certainty, Logical Positivism,” Mises Academy, Aug. 1, 2011 (KOL156)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 5: Economic Issues and Applications,” Mises Academy, Aug. 8, 2011 (KOL157)
- “The Social Theory of Hoppe, Lecture 6: Political Issues and Applications; Hoppe Q&A,” Mises Academy, Aug. 15, 2011 (KOL158)
- Transcript: “Selling Does Not Imply Ownership, and Vice-Versa: A Dissection,” Property and Freedom Society, 16th Annual Meeting, Bodrum, Turkey (Sep. 17, 2022) (KOL395)
- Transcript: “Kinsella’s Libertarian “Constitution” or: State Constitutions vs. the Libertarian Private Law Code,” PorcFest 2021, Lancaster NH
(June 26, 2021) (KOL345) - Transcript: “Reflections on the Theory of Contract,” Property and Freedom Society, 2017 Annual Meeting, Bodrum, Turkey (Sept. 17, 2017) (KOL225)
- Transcript: “Gene Basler Show: Anarcho-Capitalist Issues,” Stephan Kinsella and Gene Basler, Gene Basler Show (May 30, 2010) (KOL058)
- Transcript: “Liberty Forum Debate vs. Daniel Garza: Immigration Reform: Open Borders or Build the Wall?“, by Stephan Kinsella, Daniel Garza, and Jeremy Kaufman, New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Manchester, NH (Feb. 7, 2019) [KOL258]
- Transcript: “Dave Smith’s Part of the Problem: Libertarian Property Theory,” Stephan Kinsella and Dave Smith, Part of the Problem with Dave Smith (March 26, 2018)
- Transcript: Bitcoin2021 Announcement: Open Crypto Alliance (June 5, 2021) (KOL342)
- Transcript: Stephan Kinsella vs. Walter Block on Voluntary Slavery (Jan. 26, 2013) (KOL004)
- Transcript: Rothbard on Punishment, Property, and Contract, with Jeff Deist (KOL338)
- Transcript: “You Don’t Own Bitcoin—Property Rights, Praxeology and the Foundations of Private Law,” with Max Hillebrand (May 23, 2021)
- Transcript: The State’s Corruption of Private Law, or We Don’t Need No Legislature, The Tom Woods Show, Ep. 557 (Dec. 17, 2015)
- Transcript: The Central Rothbard Contribution I Overlooked, and Why It Matters: The Rothbard-Evers Title-Transfer Theory of Contract, The Tom Woods Show, Ep. 547 (Dec. 3, 2015)
- Transcript: Correcting Some Common Libertarian Misconceptions (2011)
- Transcript: “How To Think About Property,” New Hampshire Liberty Forum, Manchester NH, Feb. 8, 2019 (KOL259)
- “Dialogical Arguments for Libertarian Rights,” in Roger Bissell, Chris Sciabarra, and Ed Younkins, eds., The Dialectics of Liberty (Lexington Books, 2019)
- “The Voluntaryist Constitution,” Mises Wire (10/24/2017).
- “Foreword” to Chase Rachels, A Spontaneous Order: The Capitalist Case for a Stateless Society (2015); audio at KOL339 | Foreword to A Spontaneous Order
- “Stephan Kinsella on Libertarian Legal Theory, Self-Ownership and Drug Laws,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (July 20, 2014)
- “Foreword,” in Hans-Hermann Hoppe, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism (Laissez Faire Books ebook edition, 2013)
- “Afterword,” in Hans-Hermann Hoppe, The Great Fiction: Property, Economy, Society, and the Politics of Decline (Laissez Faire Books, 2012) and “Afterword” [PDF] (Second Expanded Edition, Mises Institute, 2021)
- “Stephan Kinsella on the Logic of Libertarianism and Why Intellectual Property Doesn’t Exist,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (March 18, 2012)
- “Libertarian Controversies,” Mises Daily (Aug. 25, 2011), discussing my upcoming Mises Academy course, Libertarian Controversies
- “What Libertarianism Is” (2009)
- “Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide,” Mises Daily (May 27, 2011) (includes “Discourse Ethics and Liberty: A Skeletal Ebook”)
- “Intellectual Property and Libertarianism” (below)
- What It Means To Be an Anarcho-Capitalist, LewRockwell.com (Jan. 20, 2004)
- How We Come To Own Ourselves, Mises Daily (Sep. 7, 2006)
- Causation and Aggression (co-authored with Patrick Tinsley), The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, 7:4 (Winter 2004): 97–112
- “Punishment and Proportionality: The Estoppel Approach,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 12, no. 1 (Spring 1996): 51–73
- Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002)
- Inalienability and Punishment: A Reply to George Smith, Journal of Libertarian Studies 14:1 (Winter 1998–1999): 79–93
- “A Libertarian Theory of Punishment and Rights,” Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 30, no. 2 (Jan. 1997): 607-45
- New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory, Journal of Libertarian Studies 12:2 (Fall 1996) 313–26 [superseded by “Dialogical Arguments for Libertarian Rights,” in The Dialectics of Liberty (Lexington Books, 2019)]
- “Estoppel: A New Justification for Individual Rights,” Reason Papers No. 17 (Fall 1992): 61–74
- The Undeniable Morality of Capitalism, 25 St. Mary’s Law Journal 1419 (1994) (review essay of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (1993)).
- Book Review (of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (1993)), The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, November 1994.
Intellectual Property-Primary
- Against Intellectual Property (2001, 2008, 2012)
- Kinsella, You Can’t Own Ideas: Essays on Intellectual Property (Papinian Press, 2023)
- Kinsella, ed., The Anti-IP Reader: Free Market Critiques of Intellectual Property (Papinian Press, 2023)
- Kinsella, “Against Intellectual Property After Twenty Years: Looking Back and Looking Forward” (May 12, 2022)
- Do Business Without Intellectual Property (Liberty.me, 2014) (PDF)
- “Defamation as a Type of Intellectual Property,” in A Life in Liberty: Liber Amicorum in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, edited by Jörg Guido Hülsmann & Stephan Kinsella (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2024)
- Intellectual Nonsense: Fallacious Arguments for IP, StephanKinsella.com (April 25, 2021 [2012])
- “Intellectual Property Is ‘Evil’—And Businesspeople Should Oppose It,” interview with Jack Criss, BAMSouth (Oct. 29, 2013)
- “Stephan Kinsella on the Logic of Libertarianism and Why Intellectual Property Doesn’t Exist,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (March 18, 2012)
- “Law and Intellectual Property in a Stateless Society,” Libertarian Papers 5 (1) (2013): 1-44 [Lulu.com paper version]
- Anna Zhang, “Creative Rights for Tomorrow,” Asia IP (December 2012-January 2013, quoted/interviewed)
- Will Swaim, “Patently Evil: What if ‘intellectual property’ is bad for business?”, Global Trade (Nov. 2012, quoted/interviewed)
- “The Case Against Intellectual Property,” in Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics (Prof. Dr. Christoph Lütge, ed.; Springer, 2013) (chapter 68, in Part 18, “Property Rights: Material and Intellectual,” Robert McGee, section ed.)
- Update forthcoming
- Transcripts for Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics, Lecture 1–6, Mises Academy (March 22–April 26, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics—Lecture 1: History and Law, Mises Academy (March 22, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics: Lecture 2: Overview of Justifications for IP; Property, Scarcity, and Ideas, Mises Academy (March 29, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics: Lecture 3: Examining the Utilitarian Case for IP, Mises Academy (April 5, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics: Lecture 4: IP Statutes and Treaties; Overview of Justifications for IP; Property, Scarcity and Ideas; Rights-based Arguments for IP; Creation as a Source of Rights, Mises Academy (April 12, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics: Lecture 5: Property, Scarcity and Ideas; Examining Rights-Based Arguments for IP, Mises Academy (April 19, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics: Lecture 6: The Future; Integrating IP Theory With Austrian Economics and Libertarian Theory; Proposed Reforms; Imagining A Post-IP World; The Future of Open Vs. Closed, Mises Academy (April 26, 2011)
- Transcript: “Debate with Robert Wenzel on Intellectual Property” (April 1, 2013)
- Transcript: “Locke’s Big Mistake: How the Labor Theory of Property Ruined Political Theory,” Liberty in the Pines, Young Americans for Liberty/Koch Foundation (Stephen F. Austin State University, March 23, 2013) (KOL037)
- Transcript: “A Libertarian’s Case Against Intellectual Property,” UC-Berkeley Law School Federalist Society, Oct. 11, 2018 (KOL253)
- Transcript: “The Intellectual Property Quagmire, or, The Perils of Libertarian Creationism,” the Rothbard Memorial Lecture at the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s Austrian Scholars Conference (Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn AL, March 13, 2008) (KOL012)
- Transcript: Ernie Hancock Show: IP Debate with Alan Korwin (Nov. 3, 2017) (KOL229)
- Transcript: “Mentally Unscripted Ep55 – Why IP Laws Destroy Innovation and How Creatives Can Profit Without Them” (Feb. 10, 2022; KOL375)
- Transcript: “Intellectual Property: Law and Economics: Guest Lecture Walter Block’s Law and Economics Class,” Loyola University-New Orleans (Dec. 8, 2021) (KOL365)
- Transcript: “Resolved: All patent and copyright law should be abolished: A Soho Forum Debate,” Stephan Kinsella & Richard Epstein, Soho Forum, Manhattan (Nov. 15, 2021) (KOL364)
- Transcript: “Copyright and Satoshi’s Legacy with Stephan Kinsella of the Open Crypto Alliance,” Stephan Kinsella and Tatiana Moroz, The Tatiana Show (June 30, 2021) (KOL346)
- Transcript: “Intellectual Property Debate: Stephan Kinsella vs. Craig Wright,” Stephan Kinsella, Craig Wright, and Vin Armani (London and Las Vegas, Jan. 27, 2018) (KOL234)
- Transcript: “Intellectual Property: A First Principles Debate,” Stephan Kinsella and Kristen Osenga, Federalist Society POLICYbrief (Feb. 6, 2018) (KOL235)
- Transcript: “Let’s Talk Ethereum—Libertarianism, Anarcho-Capitalism & Blockchains,” Stephan Kinsella and Christian Seberino, Let’s Talk ETC! (Ethereum Classic) podcast, Dec. 8, 2017 (KOL231)
- Transcript: “ESEADE Lecture: Should We Release Patents on Vaccines? An Overview of Libertarian Property Rights and the Case Against IP,” ESEADE, Argentina (via Zoom; May 26, 2021) (KOL341)
- Transcript: “IP Debate with Chris LeRoux” (Aug. 30, 2013) (KOL076)
- Transcript: “On Life without Patents and Copyright: Or, But Who Would Pick the Cotton?“, Property and Freedom Society, 10th Annual Meeting, Bodrum, Turkey (Sep. 13, 2015)
- Transcript: “Why Intellectual Property is not Genuine Property,” 3rd Adam Smith Forum, Moscow, Russia (Nov. 12, 2011) (KOL108)
- Transcript: “Intellectual Property and Economic Development,” Mises University 2011 (July 27, 2011)
- “The Great IP Debate of 1983,” Mises Daily (July 18, 2011)
- “How Intellectual Property Hampers the Free Market,” The Freeman (June 2011), republished as “How to Slow Economic Progress,” Mises Daily (June 1, 2011)
- Rethinking Intellectual Property: Kinsella’s Mises Academy Online Course (Feb. 11, 2011)
- “Rethinking IP,” Mises Daily (Feb. 10, 2011)
- “Intellectual Freedom and Learning Versus Patent and Copyright,” Economic Notes No. 113 (Libertarian Alliance, Jan. 18, 2011)
- Transcript: “Ideas are Free: The Case Against Intellectual Property: or, How Libertarians Went Wrong,”Mises Daily (Nov. 23, 2010; transcript of “KOL 054 | “Ideas are Free: The Case Against Intellectual Property: or, How Libertarians Went Wrong” (2010, Property and Freedom Society),” 2010 Annual Meeting, Property and Freedom Society (June 6, 2010))
- “Rethinking Intellectual Property: History, Theory, and Economics,” Mises Daily (Oct. 22, 2010; archived comments)
- Transcript: “Understanding IP: An Interview with Stephan Kinsella,” Mises Daily (Oct. 21, 2010, with Jeffrey A. Tucker) (Transcript of Understanding IP: An Interview with Stephan Kinsella (2010))
- Transcript: “How Intellectual Property Hampers Capitalism,” Mises Institute Supporters’ Summit 2010 (Oct. 8-9 2010, Auburn Alabama) (edited transcript of this speech) (published version: “How Intellectual Property Hampers the Free Market,” The Freeman (June 2011))
- “Goods, Scarce and Nonscarce” (with Jeffrey A. Tucker), Mises Daily (Aug. 25, 2010) (Audible version; KOL385)
- “The Death Throes of Pro-IP Libertarianism,” Mises Daily (July 28, 2010)
- “Reducing the Cost of IP Law,” Mises Daily (Jan. 20, 2010)
- “Intellectual Property and Libertarianism,” Mises Daily (Nov. 17, 2009) (also published in Liberty)
- “Radical Patent Reform Is Not on the Way,” Mises Daily (Oct. 1, 2009)
- “The Case Against IP: A Concise Guide,” Mises Daily (Sept. 4, 2009)
- “The Intellectual Property Quagmire, or, The Perils of Libertarian Creationism” (Powerpoint; PDF version), Austrian Scholars Conference 2008Rothbard Memorial Lecture (audio; video; Google Video version)
- In Defense of Napster and Against the Second Homesteading Rule, September 4, 2000, LewRockwell.com
- There’s No Such Thing as a Free Patent, Mises Daily (Mar. 7, 2005)
- “The Forgotten Costs of the Patent System,” IP Law & Business (April 2005), vol. 3, p. 18
Intellectual Property-Other
- “Patents, Pharma, Government: The Unholy Alliance,” Brownstone Institute (April 1, 2024)
- “Beware the Trans-Pacific Partnership: It’s Not About Free Trade,” BAMSouth (May 21, 2015), reprinted as “Trans Pacific Partnership Is about Control, Not Free Trade,” FEE.org (June 24, 2015)
- Was the most fervent believer in intellectual property rights an IP thief? (Christian Science Monitor, 2011) (Oct. 28, 2011)
- Transcript: “Libertopia 2012 IP Panel, with Stephan Kinsella, Charles Johnson, and Butler Shaffer,” Libertopia (San Diego, CA, Oct. 12, 2012)
- Transcript: Intellectual Nonsense: Fallacious Arguments for IP: Part 1 (Oct. 12 2012) and Part 2 (Oct. 18, 2012)
- Transcript: KOL320 | Stephan Livera Podcast # 249–Bitcoin Patents & Open Crypto Alliance (Feb. 2021)
- Transcript: Scottish Liberty Podcast: Discussing the Mossoff-Sammeroff IP Debate, Take 2: A Sober Conversation With Stephan Kinsella (May 30, 2020)
- Transcript: Scottish Liberty Podcast: Discussing the Mossoff-Sammeroff IP Debate, Take 1: Under the Influence of Stephan Kinsella: Against Intellectual Property (May 21, 2020)
- Transcript: KOL134 | This Week in Law 267: Eleemosynary, My Dear Watson (2014)
- “Introduction” and chapter “Conversation with Schulman about Logorights and Media-Carried Property” [both available here] in J. Neil Schulman, Origitent: Why Original Content is Property (Steve Heller Publishing, 2018)
- Laserinterview med Stephan Kinsella (Interview/Chat Forum on IP topics), Danish libertarian site, Sept. 15, 2006 (local copy)
- (Minor) Criticisms of Kinsella, by Bob Murphy; and my reply in the comments section
- The Morality of Acquiring and Enforcing Patents, Stephan Kinsella, LewRockwell.com Blog
- Letter to an Anonymous Patent Attorney, Jan. 25, 2002, LewRockwell.com.
- Do patents and copyrights undermine private property?: Yes, Insight magazine, May 21, 2001 (vs. James DeLong)
- Letter on Intellectual Property Rights, IOS Journal 5, no. 2 (June 1995), pp. 12-13
- “Is Intellectual Property Legitimate?“, Pennsylvania Bar Association Intellectual Property Newsletter 1 (Winter 1998): 3; republished in the Federalist Society’s Intellectual Property Practice Group Newsletter, vol. 3, Issue 3 (Winter 2000)
| More IP Links and Resources |
Law, Economics, General Libertarian Issues
- “A Tour Through Walter Block’s Oeuvre” (May 9, 2024)
- “International Law, Libertarian Principles, and the Russia-Ukraine War,” Free Life (19 April 2022)
- Down with the Bill of Rights: Heller and the Central States Cheerleaders (draft, 2008)
- Constitutional Structures in Defense of Freedom (ASC 1998)
- Transcript: Jeff Deist and Stephan Kinsella on Hoppe’s Democracy (Oct. 23, 2020)
- Transcript: Q&A with Hülsmann, Dürr, Kinsella, Hoppe (PFS 2019) (Sept. 15, 2019)
- Nobody Owns Bitcoin, StephanKinsella.com (April 21, 2021 [2019])
- Erudite, Scholarly, and Unfailingly Polite: To Sean Gabb on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday (4 Dec. 2019)
- Remembering Tibor Machan, Libertarian Mentor and Friend: Reflections on a Giant, FEE.org (April 18, 2016)
- Interview by The Libertarian (Keir Martland), May 10, 2013
- “Read Hoppe, Then Nothing Is the Same,” Mises Daily (June 10 2011)
- “Montessori, Peace, and Libertarianism,” LewRockwell.com (April 28, 2011)
- “Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella,” Mises Economics Blog (Feb. 11, 2011)
- “Teaching an Online Mises Academy Course,” Mises Daily (Jan. 10, 2011)
- “Introduction to Libertarian Legal Theory,” Mises Daily (Jan. 3, 2011)
- “Fifteen Minutes that Changed Libertarian Publishing,” Mises Daily (Jan. 12, 2010)
- bookended by: “Ten Years of Libertarian Scholarship,” Libertarian Papers vol. 10, no. 2 (2018; posted July 22, 2019): 427–28
- “Introduction,” with Jörg Guido Hülsmann, in Hülsmann & Kinsella, eds., Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe (Mises Institute, 2009) (also published as “Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe,” Mises Daily, Aug. 7, 2009)
- Tinsley, Patrick, Stephan Kinsella and Walter Block. “In Defense of Evidence and Against the Exclusionary Rule: A Libertarian Approach,” Southern University Law Review, Vol. 32.1 (2004), pp. 63-80
- The Greatest Libertarian Books, LewRockwell.com (Aug. 7, 2006)
- The Trouble with Libertarian Activism, LewRockwell.com, January 26, 2006
- A Simple Libertarian Argument Against Unrestricted Immigration and Open Borders, LewRockwell.com, September 1, 2005
- A Libertarian Defense of Kelo and Limited Federal Power, LewRockwell.com, June 27, 2005
- Judicial Activism and the Presumption of Unconstitutionality, StephanKinsella.com (draft, July 2005)
- Federalism (with Walter Block), LewRockwell.com, May 25, 2005
- Causation and Aggression (co-authored with Patrick Tinsley), The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics 7, no. 4 (winter 2004): 97-112 (based on “Reinach and the Property Libertarians on Causality in the Law,” by Stephan Kinsella, presented at “Reinach and Rothbard: An International Symposium (archived), Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama, March 29-30, 2001)
- A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, Journal of Libertarian Studies 17, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 11-37
- Reply to Van Dun: Non-Aggression and Title Transfer, Journal of Libertarian Studies, 18:2 (Spring 2004): 55–64
- In Defense of Evidence: Against the Exclusionary Rule and Against Libertarian Centralism, with Patrick Tinsley, November 1, 2003, LewRockwell.com.
- When Did the Trouble Start?, September 5, 2003, LewRockwell.com.
- Sandefur and Federal Supremacy, July 5, 2003, LewRockwell.com.
- Supreme Confusion, Or, A Libertarian Defense of Affirmative Action, July 4, 2003, LewRockwell.com.
- Of Legal Fictions and Pro-Lincoln Libertarians: Reply to Sandefur, December 31, 2002, LewRockwell.com.
- How I Became A Libertarian, December 18, 2002, LewRockwell.com
- Fukuyama and Libertarianism, May 6, 2002, LewRockwell.com.
- On Jonah Goldberg’s Youthful Phase, June 27, 2001, LewRockwell.com
- Knowledge, Calculation, Conflict, and Law (review essay of Randy E. Barnett, The Structure of Liberty), Winter 1999, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics
- “The Second Paradox of Blackmail,” Business Ethics Quarterly 10, 3 (July 2000): 593-622 (co-authored with Walter Block and Hans-Hermann Hoppe).
- Economic Calculation Under Socialism, Appendix I to Protecting Foreign Investment Under International Law: Legal Aspects of Political Risk (1997)
- “Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society,” Journal of Libertarian Studies 11 (Summer 1995), p. 132 (to be included in Legal Foundations of a Free Society)
- The Duty to Defend Advertising Injuries Caused by Junk Faxes: An Analysis of Privacy, Spam, Detection and Blackmail, with Walter Block & Roy Whitehead, 27:4 Whittier Law Review: 925-49 (2006)
- Book Review of Schulman, The Robert Heinlein Interview and Other Heinleiniana (1991)
Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA)
- I am Stephan Kinsella, libertarian theorist and practicing patent attorney. Ask Me Anything! (Anarcho-capitalism subreddit, Feb. 1, 2018)
- I am Stephan Kinsella, libertarian theorist, opponent of intellectual property law, and practicing patent attorney. Ask Me Anything! (June 7, 2016) (Facebook thread) (announced here)
- I am Stephan Kinsella, a patent attorney and Austrian economics and anarchist libertarian writer who thinks patent and copyright should be abolished. AMA (IAmA subreddit, Jan 22, 2013) (Facebook thread)
- I am Stephan Kinsella, libertarian writer and patent attorney. Ask Me Anything! (Libertarian subreddit, Oct. 22, 2013) (secondary thread)
- I am Stephan Kinsella, anarcho-libertarian writer and patent attorney. Ask Me Anything! (Anarcho-capitalism subreddit, Jan. 16, 2014)
General/Social
- Extreme Prefixes, Jan. 15, 2002, LewRockwell.com.
- “New Israel: A Win-Win-Win Proposal,” LewRockwell.com (October 1, 2001)
- In Defense of Gary Condit, August 31, 2001, LewRockwell.com.
- Let Kids Smoke, July 25, 2000, LewRockwell.com.
- Libertarians & the Religious Right: an Interview with Stephan Kinsella, by Alberto Mingardi, Laissez Faire City Times, v. 2.39 (1999)
Review Essays/Book Reviews
- Eat This Book: Review of Brad Edmonds’s There’s a Government in Your Soup: Why There’s Too Much Government in Your Kitchen, and What You Can Do About It, July 24, 2004, LewRockwell.com
- Knowledge, Calculation, Conflict, and Law (review essay of Randy E. Barnett, The Structure of Liberty), Winter 1999, Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.
- Book Review of Anthony de Jasay, Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order, The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Fall 1998): 85-93.
- Taking the Ninth Amendment Seriously: A Review of Calvin R. Massey’s Silent Rights: The Ninth Amendment and the Constitution’s Unenumerated Rights [1995], 24 Hastings Const. L. Q. 757 (1997)
- Book Review of Patrick Burke, No Harm: Ethical Principles for a Free Market (1994), Reason Papers No. 20 (Fall 1995), p. 135.
- Book Review of Rosalyn Higgins, Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (1994), Reason Papers No. 20 (Fall 1995), p. 147.
- Book Review (of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (1993)), The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, vol. 44, p. 640 (Nov. 1994)
Shorter Pieces/Other
- “Legislation and Law in a Free Society,” Mises Daily (Feb. 25, 2010)
- The Ordeal of Hoppe (with Jeffrey Tucker), The Free Market, Volume 25, Number 4 (April 1, 2005)
- Perspective: Pride and the Nanny State, 46 The Freeman 194 (April 1996)
- Legislation and Law in a Free Society,” 45 The Freeman 561 (September 1995)
(Selected) College-era (1987-91) Columns, Letters-to-Editor
- On the Fourth Amendment, letter to Chronicles (March 1996), regarding Larry Pratt’s comments on the exclusionary rule
- Column: Israel: Victim of Bloodlust in Middle East?, LSU Daily Reveille, June 21, 1988 (Note: written when I was young and in college; I do not now agree with everything in this column, in part because of my move from Randian minarchism to anarcho-capitalism.)
- Sales tax may be savior of future, LSU Daily Reveille, April 15, 1988
- Minimum Wage Wrong, LSU Daily Reveille, Mar. 23, 1988
- Minimum Wage Completely, Morally Wrong, Letter to the Editor, The Morning Advocate (April 22, 1988)
- Column: Movie Review of Roger Rabbit, LSU Daily Reveille, July 28, 1988
- The Cult of Modern Ugliness, The Wonderland Times (underground LSU student newspaper), vol. 1, no. 8, July 24, 1989 (Note: Written in a more Randian “Objectivist” phase.)
- “Negates freedom of choice,” Letter to the Editor, The Morning Advocate (Dec. 21, 1988), and related correspondence related to the voucher system and school choice, 1988–89 (Note: Written in a more Randian “Objectivist” phase, and before I came to oppose voucher systems.)
- “Freedom and Government,” The Wonderland Times (underground LSU student newspaper), vol. 1, no. 6, July 5, 1989
- Ticket Me, Goddamnit!, The Wonderland Times (underground LSU student newspaper), Oct. 23, 1989
- Poem Rebuttal, letter to the editor, LSU Daily Reveille, September (?), 1985 (?) (defense of Leona Helmsley)
Fiction/Unpublished/Miscellany
- The Subjectivist’s Lament (short story; draft; 1980s?)
Shorter Pieces in Blogs; Self-Published Essays
General/Miscellaneous
- Kinsella posts on the Mises Blog
- Kinsella posts on Against Monopoly blog
Significant Blog Posts
- The Superiority of the Roman Law: Scarcity, Property, Locke and Libertarianism (Mises, Aug. 17, 2010) (archived version with comments)
- Hoppe: Marx was “Essentially Correct”
- Extreme Praxeology, Mises, Jan. 19, 2007
- The Other Fields of Praxeology: War, Games, Voting… and Ethics?, Mises, Aug. 5 2006
- The Division of Labor as the Source of Grundnorms and Rights; Empathy and the Source of Rights
- Revisiting Argumentation Ethics, Mises, March 13, 2009
- IP and Aggression as Limits on Property Rights: How They Differ, The Non-Aggression Principle as a Limit on Action, Not on Property Rights, and Objectivist Greg Perkins on Intellectual Property, text at n.6
- State Antitrust (anti-monopoly) law versus state IP (pro-monopoly) law (re Rothbard and “big business”)
- Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts…
- Don’t Bet on China; Don’t Bet on China: Redux
- Intellectual Property Imperialism
- Mises Academy etc.: “Teaching an Online Mises Academy Course”; “Fifteen Minutes that Changed Libertarian Publishing“; Doug French, “The Intellectual Revolution Is in Process“; Jeffrey Tucker, “A Theory of Open” and “up with iTunes U“; Gary North, “A Free Week-Long Economics Seminar”.
- Corporations: Rothbard on Corporations and Limited Liability for Tort; Legitimizing the Corporation and Other Posts; Defending Corporations: Block and Huebert; Pilon on Corporations: A Discussion with Kevin Carson; Corporations and Limited Liability for Torts; In Defense of the Corporation;
- The Libertarian Approach to Negligence, Tort, and Strict Liability: Wergeld and Partial Wergeld; Fraud, Restitution, and Retaliation: The Libertarian Approach; The Problem with “Fraud”: Fraud, Threat, and Contract Breach as Types of Aggression; Trademark and Fraud
- Locke on IP; Mises, Rothbard, and Rand on Creation, Production, and “Rearranging”; Libertarian Creationism; Rand on IP, Owning “Values”, and “Rearrangement Rights”; Locke, Smith, Marx and the Labor Theory of Value; this comment to “Trademark and Fraud”; Elaborations on Randian IP; Objectivists on IP
- Hoppe on Liberal Economies and War
- Hoppe on Covenant Communities and Advocates of Alternative Lifestyles
- Hoppe Is Not A Monarchist
- Hoppe on Falsificationism, Empiricism, and Apriorism and Protophysics
- Hoppe on Property Rights in Physical Integrity vs Value
- Spooner on Knaves, Dupes, and the Constitution; and the Highwayman vs. The State
- IP posts: see C4SIF Resources page
- Property Title Records and Insurance in a Free Society
- The Appeal of States
- California Gay Marriage Law Overturned: What Should Libertarians Think?; Is Gay Marriage a Constitutional Right?, McElroy and Peron on Gay Marriage, and The Libertarian Case for Gay Marriage.
- A Critique of Mutualist Occupancy
- Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts…
- The Nature of the State and Why Libertarians Hate It
- Why Spam is Trespass; Spam as a Nuisance; Spyware and Trespass; Causation, Spam, and Worms
- Another Problem with Legislation: James Carter v. the Field Codes
- On the Danger of Metaphors in Scientific Discourse
Other Blog Posts
- Repudiate the Iraqi Debt! (Odious Debt doctrine)
- Good and Bad Judicial Activism
- On Former Lefties
- Peculium
- Heroic Google
- “The” Libertarian View on Gay Marriage; On Gay Marriage
- Future of Freedom Fund (Mises blog version) (Holdeen trusts & tax free government)
- The Enlightened Bar (Texas Bar Journal affirmative action policy)
- “Doctor” Lawyer?
- A Conservative Argument for Abortion
- WarLibertarians; More on Schulman v. Huebert; Stromberg on Liberventionists
- Cool Footnote Policy (the Green Bag & goulash)
- Nukes and International Law (Legality of Nuclear Weapons) (also The UN, International Law, and Nuclear Weapons and International Law and the Criminal Court)
- Palmer on Hoppe, Coase, and Wealth-Maximization
- Palmer on Patents (in Pilon on Patents)
- License to Breed? (about Louisiana’s forced heirship law; positive obligations of parents to their children; whether a deadbeat dad ought to be prohibited from having more kids; Buck v. Bell–“three generations of imbeciles are enough”)
Libertarianism: Property, Rights, Aggression
- Hate Crime–Intentional Action and Motivations
- Thoughts on Intellectual Property, Scarcity, Labor-ownership, Metaphors, and Lockean Homesteading
- The Essence of Libertarianism (“better title”, “first possession”, etc.)
- Libertarian Advocates of Aggression (see links in last paragraph–discussions on Chronicles site etc. w/ Scott Richert, Ed Feser, et al. about willingness to admit one favors aggression)
- Toward A Theory of Bullying (my reply to Kirkwood; Karen De Coster’s comment)
- Yet More On Galambos (On engineers’ tendency to be anti-intellectual, cocky brute-force reinvent the wheel types on politics questions); further discussion here
- On the incoherence of “would you push the button” Leonard Read type hypotheticals: On Pushing the Button–the problem with magic; also Defend Hoppe (comments); Push the Button? (comments); Stephan Kinsella Ought To Shut His Stupid Cake Hole; Big Government, Thy Name is Privatization (comments)
- On “trespass” theory used for SPAM etc.: Spyware and Trespass; Spam, Spyware, Spiders and Trespass
Libertarian Cranks and Nuts
Patents & Intellectual Property
- Intellectual Property Resources
- The Growing Anti-IP Movement (extensive comment thread)
- Bastiat’s Three Stages of Invention (see my comments, regarding whether patents are monopolies, and the problem with using Rothbard’s copyright idea to protect inventions; etc.)
- Condemning Patents
- French Book on The Economics of Patents and Copyrights (on out current ability to estimate the value of a patent system)
- Patents and Utilitarian Thinking; also: Drug Patents & Welfare
- Copyright and Video Games
- Improving Copyright Law: Baby Steps
- For Blackberry Users Out There… (extensive discussion in comments about patent law and utilitarianism)
- Intellectual Property & Scarcity (recent blog post by Stephen Gordon of Hammer of Truth, discussing my views and those of Volokh; discussion on EconLog about my and Volokh’s IP views)
- Cato Tugs Stray Back Onto Reservation (Cato flap about Doug Bandow opposing free trade in pharmaceuticals)
- Thoughts on Intellectual Property, Scarcity, Labor-ownership, Metaphors, and Lockean Homesteading
Legal Theory, International Law, Common Law, Private Law
- Book Recommendations: Private, International, and Common Law; Legal Theory
Objectivism/Ayn Rand
- Objectivism Schism Form Lettter
- Mises and Rand (and Rothbard)
- Objectivism and the Austrians (by Jeff Tucker, w/ replies)
- Randian Hoppe(?), Austrian Rand(?)
- Objectivists on the Bandow/Cato Scandal (see my extensive comments regarding Objectivists on anarchy, aggression, civilization, the silliness of Randians’ “breaking” with each other, etc.); related post: I Break For Randians and discussion on Rule of Reason blog, The Culture: Intolerant Tolerationists?; also Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz are Objectivists!
Fourteenth Amendment, Constitutionalism, Decentralism, Extreme Federalism
- More on Kelo and Federalism (Mises blog)
- Fourteenth Amendment Resources (LRC Bloc)
- Libertarian Centralists
- Barnett and the Fourteenth Amendment
- The Appeal of States
- State and Religion (discussing Congregationalism and established religion in US colonies/13 original states)
- Federalism and Libertarians on Eminent Domain (discussing Congregationalism etc.)
- my “Kelo” article (discussing Congregationalism etc.)
Nuclear, Technology
- Green Nukes
- Nuclear Spring (only a matter of time before environmentalists start advocating nuclear power)
- Nuke Me (on new technology to bury nuclear waste)
- Nuclear Energy Links
- Dam Nukes (safety of nuclear; danger of hydroelectric)
- The Bottomless Well
- Nuclear Spring — Thermal Depolymerization?
Unpublished/Draft Works
- “Natural Law and Positive Law,” “Self Defense, Punishment, and Proportionality,” and “The Theory of Contracts,” presentations at the Rothbard Graduate Seminar, July 28–Aug. 2, 2002, Mises Institute, Auburn AL
Legal Publications
- Available at KinsellaLaw.com
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