Serpentine Wisdom

TitleSerpentine Wisdom
Year for Search1993
AuthorsHatfield, Frank W.(b. 1917)
Pagination275 pp.
Date Published1993
PublisherVantage Press
Place PublishedNew York
ISBN Number978-0-553-10224-8
Annotation

The author writes that “This is a book about the best form of government” (5) and that “The thesis of this book is that the best form of government is philosophical anarchy” (6), although no anarchist would recognize the result. He says that “The best form of government is no government, because no one likes to be pushed around” (6), and that “All that is needed is that everyone do the right thing voluntarily at all times” (6). He explains the book’s title by quoting Matthew 10:16, “Be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (KJV) and basis his utopia on Christ’s teachings. Includes an “Appendix: The Constitution of the World” (255-275) that is structurally modeled on the U.S. Constitution. The author says he was a lawyer and that the book was written in 1986 and 1987 and revised in 1988 and again for publication.

Holding Institutions

NjR, PU

Author Note

(b. 1917)

Full Text

1993 Hatfield, Frank W. (b. 1917). Serpentine Wisdom. New York: Vantage Press. 275 pp. NjR, PU

The author writes that “This is a book about the best form of government” (5) and that “The thesis of this book is that the best form of government is philosophical anarchy” (6), although no anarchist would recognize the result. He says that “The best form of government is no government, because no one likes to be pushed around” (6), and that “All that is needed is that everyone do the right thing voluntarily at all times” (6). He explains the book’s title by quoting Matthew 10:16, “Be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (KJV) and basis his utopia on Christ’s teachings. Includes an “Appendix: The Constitution of the World” (255-275) that is structurally modeled on the U.S. Constitution. The author says he was a lawyer and that the book was written in 1986 and 1987 and revised in 1988 and again for publication.