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Jan Narveson, OC (born 1936) is professor of philosophy emeritus at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. An anarcho-capitalist and contractarian, Narveson's form of libertarian anarchism is deeply influenced by the thought of Robert Nozick, David Gauthier and Anthony de Jasay. Along with Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Narveson's The Libertarian Idea (1988) is considered a major work of Libertarian theory and "ranks in importance with Nozick’s "Anarchy, State, and Utopia" and Rawls’s "A Theory of Justice."

Narveson was born in Erskine, Minnesota, United States. He studied at the University of Chicago where he obtained a B.A. in political science and in philosophy; he then spent a year at the University of Oxford on a traveling fellowship before earning a PhD at Harvard University in 1961. His libertarian views have evolved from dissatisfaction with utilitarianism.

A prolific author, Narveson has written hundreds of essays, reviews and articles for publication. Despite his distinguished academic background, his writing style is often informal and humorous, broadening his potential appeal to the general public. A fierce critic of Marxism, he is also known in the University of Waterloo for taking part in many on-campus debates. In 2002 he published Respecting Persons in Theory and Practice (2002), a collection of his most influential essays spanning the length of his career. His most recent work is You and the State: A Short Introduction to Political Philosophy. Narveson is a long-time member of the Ontario Libertarian Party, and currently sits on its Ethics Committee.

Apart from his libertarian work, he is the founder/president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society - a long-running venue for classical chamber music.

In 2003, Narveson was made an Officer of the Order of Canada by past Governor-General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson.

Since 2006, Narveson has been president of the Institute for Liberal Studies.

This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Jan Narveson", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0