George H. Smith
Atheism, ayn, and liberty
The philosophy of voluntary society.
Heterodox VoluntaristOne of 729 ideologies · enter the Voluntarist hall →- Role
- Philosopher
- Era
- 1949–2022
- Region
- United States
- Social band
- Heterodox
- Placement
- +66 · −76 · +35
§ Where George H. Smith stands
3 axesSmith defended free-market individualism as the economic expression of natural rights: property, contract and voluntary exchange follow from each person's ownership of himself. The System of Liberty (2013) traced how classical liberals linked property rights to individual freedom, and he treated markets as the domain of consent rather than a merely useful device.
Smith argued that no state can claim legitimate authority over people who have not consented to it, a view rooted in the natural-rights tradition he studied. The Voluntaryist, which he co-founded in 1982, rejected both electoral politics and violent revolution, urging libertarians to delegitimise the state through education and the withdrawal of consent.
Smith was a secular rationalist whose progressivism lay in freedom of thought. Atheism: The Case Against God (1974) argued that belief in God is unsupported by reason and that religion deserves the same critical scrutiny as any other claim, a case he extended in Why Atheism? (2000). He treated morality as a matter of reason rather than authority.
How close are you to George H. Smith?
Three statements, one per axis. Answer them and we’ll drop you on the compass next to them.
§ The story
HistoricalGeorge H. Smith (1949–2022) was an American libertarian philosopher, historian of ideas and writer on atheism. He became widely known with Atheism: The Case Against God (1974), a systematic critique of theistic belief that stayed in print for decades. Working largely outside the universities, he lectured at libertarian seminars, including those of the Institute for Humane Studies, and in 1982 co-founded The Voluntaryist with Carl Watner and Wendy McElroy, a newsletter promoting non-political, non-violent means to a free society.
Smith's significance lies in joining rigorous rationalism to the history of liberal thought. His essays in Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies (1991) engaged critically with Objectivism, and The System of Liberty (2013), published by Cambridge University Press, traced themes of natural rights, sovereignty and resistance through the classical-liberal tradition. In his later years he wrote a long-running series of essays for the Cato Institute's Libertarianism.org. He argued throughout that a free society must be reached by persuasion rather than by capturing the state.
Notable for
- 01'Atheism: The Case Against God'
- 02Libertarian intellectual history
- 03Voluntaryist philosophy
Key works & moments
- 1974Publishes Atheism: The Case Against God.
- 1982Co-founds The Voluntaryist with Carl Watner and Wendy McElroy.
- 1991Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies collects essays on religion, Objectivism and liberty.
- 2000Publishes Why Atheism?, a further defence of secular reason.
- 2013Cambridge University Press publishes The System of Liberty, his study of classical-liberal themes.
- 2022Dies, leaving a large body of essays and lectures on libertarian thought.
§ Minds closest to George H. Smith
All minds →
§ Also in the Voluntarist hall
Enter the hall →§ Common questions
4 answersWhat was George H. Smith's political ideology?
George H. Smith was a voluntaryist libertarian who grounded a stateless, consent-based society in natural rights and reason: on the 99ideologies three-axis compass, a Heterodox Voluntarist. Economically he sat firmly on the market side (+66), defending property and voluntary exchange. On governance he was strongly anti-state (−76), denying the legitimacy of authority without consent, and socially he was moderately progressive (+35), a secular rationalist and prominent atheist.
Was George H. Smith left-wing or right-wing?
He belongs to the libertarian tradition, which sits outside the usual left–right split. His defence of free markets and property places him on the economic right, but his outspoken atheism, secularism and opposition to state power in every form set him apart from religious conservatives. He saw himself as an heir of radical classical liberalism rather than of modern conservatism or progressivism, and he rejected party politics altogether.
Was George H. Smith an Objectivist?
No, though Ayn Rand influenced him. Smith admired Rand's defence of reason, individualism and capitalism, and Atheism: The Case Against God (1974) shares Objectivism's rationalist approach. But he worked independently of the organised Objectivist movement, and his 1991 collection Atheism, Ayn Rand, and Other Heresies criticised aspects of Rand's thought and of the movement around her. He also parted from Rand politically: she endorsed limited government, while he defended a voluntaryist society without a state.
Which minds are closest to George H. Smith?
On the 99ideologies three-axis compass, the minds closest to George H. Smith are Étienne de La Boétie (98% alike), The Consenting Neighbour (archetype) (97% alike) and Wendy McElroy (96% alike). The furthest is Pol Pot (3% alike).