"The purpose of this anthology is to unite some of the most important philosophical writings on political freedom from John Locke to Amartya Sen, so that we can facilitate a larger Norwegian reception of the thinkers that have put down the most important fundamentals of the modern liberal democracy, and of the thinkers that continue the discussion today."

[3] Norwegian politicians and writers were invited to the debate, among them Cathrine Holst, Henrik Syse and Ove Vanebo.

Eirik Høyer Leivestad, reviewing for Bergens Tidende, supported this view, and stated that "crazy" minarchist libertarians like Ludwig von Mises, Robert Nozick and Friedrich Hayek did not belong in a book with "tempered" liberal thinkers like John Locke, Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill.

[6] Professor at the University of Oslo, Trond Berg Eriksen, also criticised the anthology for being contradictory, and labelled it "not a peaceful cemetery" in his review in Morgenbladet.

[7] He also criticised Svendsen for leaving out prolific liberal thinkers such as Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, Raymond Aron, Milton Friedman and Quentin Skinner.