Libertarianism
Libertarianism is
a social and political philosophy in the Western Liberal tradition founded on personal
liberty. Although the term “libertarianism” did not appear in political
discourse until the 1950s, its conceptual framework was firmly established in
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by philosophers in the “classical
liberal tradition;” most notably, John Locke and John Stuart Mill. It is
distinguished from egalitarianism and communitarianism by its views on property
rights and the use of force.
Libertarians in
the tradition of John Locke justify the liberty principle on a natural rights
argument, while Libertarians in the tradition of John Stuart Mill justify
liberty based it on utilitarian arguments. Despite marginal theoretical
disagreement, libertarians agree that the principles of self-ownership and
non-aggression are foundational.
Self-Ownership
According to John
Locke, legal and moral rights and duties are based on the a priori principle of self-ownership; that is, the self-evident idea
that we own ourselves in the same sense that we own property (natural resources
and/or artifacts). Self-ownership sets legal and moral limits what others can
do to us and/or our property without our consent.
Entitlement to
property is based on historical principles; or how that property was originally
acquired. Initial ownership is based on individuals (and groups) mixing their own
labor with previously unowned resources. Once natural resources come under
initial ownership, entitlement to those natural resources and/or the artifacts
created out of those resources may be transferred to others, if and only if the
contract is informed and consensual. Governmental
redistribution of property is limited to returning property to rightful owners,
in cases of fraud or theft. Most libertarians reject all governmental policies
that coercively redistribute property based on any patterned, or preferred, end
state such as: merit, need, equality, or utility.
The institution of
slavery, for example, is universally morally wrong because it violates the
principle of self-ownership and involuntarily deprives individuals (and groups)
of their natural right to own and transfer property.
Non-Aggression
Libertarians argue
that the non-aggression principle is the basic principle of both legality and
morality. Unprovoked physical aggression is a violation of property rights via
self-ownership. Libertarians follow John Stuart Mill and distinguish between
other-regarding acts, which violate the rights of others without their consent;
and, self-regarding acts which do not. The inviolable bounds of personal
liberty lie within the sphere of self-regarding actions. Self-defense is the
only justification for violation of the non-aggression axiom.
Deontological libertarians
distinguish between legal and moral duties (and rights) and between positive
and negative duties (and rights). Negative rights impose negative duties upon others;
duties to not harm persons or deprive them of their rightfully acquired property.
Hence, the non-aggression axiom imposes a negative right to life, which imposes
a negative duty not to kill others, deprive them of their liberty, or their
property. However, there can be no positive legal rights that obligate individuals
to assist others; and therefore there is no “positive legal right to life.” If individuals
acknowledge a “positive moral right to life,” that right would be more efficiently
fulfilled by individual charity and non-governmental organizations than by governmental,
tax-supported redistributive welfare.
Libertarians
disagree over the implications of the non-aggression axiom for the nature and
scope of statism and the justifiability of raising revenue via taxation, or
raising a defensive army via involuntary conscription. Most libertarians today
are “minarchists” and therefore, support limited government, where the state
may be empowered to protect its citizens from external threats posed by
aggressive states (via an all-volunteer army); and from internal threats posed
by criminals (murderers, frauds, and thieves) via a criminal justice system.
Some deontological
libertarians are “anarchists,” or “anarcho-capitalists” who argue that statism,
by definition, violates the nonaggression axiom; and that small governments
have a natural propensity to become larger, more aggressive and/or dominated by
powerful cronies. Utilitarian anarchists argue that even military and criminal
justice can be more efficiently provided by competing private individuals, and voluntary
non-governmental associations. .
Libertarianism, Social Issues, and Global
Affairs
Libertarians are
social liberals and economic conservatives. They argue that most social
problems are caused by coercive government; and therefore, seek to empower
individuals and groups to make their own decisions and solve their own problems
via voluntary cooperation.
Libertarians
resist any attempt by political regimes to coercively impose any self-regarding
moral or religious view as a legal obligation. They oppose governmental policies
that regulate self-regarding acts such as: marriage, birth control,
pornography, and recreational drugs. Libertarian views on abortion, stem cell
research, and cloning are contingent upon individual beliefs: whether zygotes,
fetuses, and/or clones are “persons” or “property.”
Economically, most
libertarians embrace free market capitalism and are opposed to governmental
regulations intended to serve the public good, such as: urban planning, social
welfare, socialized medicine, affirmative action, minimum wage laws, or public
schools. Statist market intervention, they argue, invariably advances the
interests of the family and friends of governmental officials, or “cronies.”
In global affairs,
libertarians embrace free market economic policies and laissez faire government, which seeks to limit or eliminate the
role of governmental regimes (national and international) to protecting
consumers against theft, and fraud. Most libertarians are opposed to governmentally-enforced
monetary policy, national banks, protective tariffs, and/or anti-sweat shop
legislation. Most argue that foreign aid, when appropriate, is more effective
when provided by individuals and non-governmental organizations directly to
individuals who need it and to governments.
In terms of human
warfare, libertarians hold firm to the non-aggression axiom and therefore
declare war only in self-defense; or perhaps in defense of allied regimes.
Preemptive warfare is, therefore, problematic.
On the
contemporary political landscape, the primary critics of libertarians are statists,
communitarians, and egalitarians.
Ronald F. White
See also liberalism;
egalitarianism; self-ownership; shareholder model of corporate governance;
anarchism; statism; Hayek, Friedrich A.; Nozick, Robert; Friedman, Milton
Further Readings and References
Boaz, David. (1997). Libertarianism: A Primer. New York: Free
Press.
Friedman, Milton, (1962). Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Hayek, F.A., (1944). The Road to Serfdom. Chicago: University
of Chicago Press.
Narveson, Jan. (1988). The Libertarian Idea. Philadelphia:
Temple University Press.
Narveson, Jan, (2008). You and the State: A Short Introduction to
Political Philosophy. Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers.
Nozick, Robert. (1974). Anarchy,
State, and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.
Rothbard, Murray. (1982). The Ethics of Liberty. Atlantic
Highlands: Humanities Press.
Smith, George H. (2013). The
System of Liberty: Themes in the History of Classical Liberalism. Cambridge
University Press.
