The Libertarian Idea

by Narveson, Jan

• ISBN13: 9781551114217
• ISBN10: 1551114216
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Broadview Pr

Summary

Libertarianism is both a philosophy and a political view. The key concepts defining Libertarianism are: Individual Rights as inherent to human beings, not granted by government; a Spontaneous Order through which people conduct their daily interactions and through which society is organized independent of central (government) direction; the Rule of Law which dictates that everyone is free to do as they please so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others; a Divided and Limited Government, checked by written constitution; Free Markets in which price and exchange is agreed upon mutually by individuals; Virtue of Production whereby the productive labour of the individual and any translation of that labour into earnings belongs, by right, to the individual who should not have to sacrifice those earnings to taxes; and Peace which has, throughout history, most commonly been disrupted by the interests of the ruling class or centralized government.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART ONE: Is Libertarianism Possible?
Prologue. The Knock at the Door	3	(4)
Liberalism, Conservatism, Libertarianism	7	(6)
A Preliminary Definition	7	(1)
Liberal/Conservative	8	(2)
Left, Center, Right	10	(1)
Liberal Individualism as One Kind of Conservatism	11	(2)
Liberty	13	(9)
Another Preliminary Definition	13	(1)
The Subject of Liberty	14	(1)
Liberty and Autonomy	15	(2)
The Nonatomic Individual	17	(1)
What Is Liberty?	18	(1)
Liberty: Freedom to Bring About	18	(1)
Freedom From and Freedom To	19	(1)
Utter Freedom	20	(1)
Interferences: Where the Action Is	20	(2)
Liberty: Negative versus Positive	22	(10)
Negative and Positive Liberty: Freedom versus Power	22	(1)
Lack of Desire: A Constraint?	23	(2)
Lack of Reason: Another Constraint?	25	(1)
Our Subject: Social Freedom	26	(1)
A Note on Slavery	27	(2)
Is ``Positive Liberty'' Liberty?	29	(3)
Two Conceptions of Liberty as a Social Concern	32	(9)
The Two Ideas	32	(1)
What Constitutes Interference?	33	(1)
Coercion	34	(1)
Pressuring	35	(2)
Interference versus Nonassistance	37	(4)
Rights	41	(21)
Rights Defined	41	(3)
Rights and Duties: Definition or Mere Correlation?	44	(1)
Rights without Duties? So-called ``Liberty Rights''	44	(1)
Duties without Rights? Rights, Duties, and Justice	45	(2)
Duties to No One in Particular?	47	(1)
Enforcebility	48	(1)
Enforcement and Force	48	(2)
A Paradox: My Freedom Is Your Unfreedom?	50	(1)
Rights Prima Facie or Rights Absolute?	50	(3)
``Side Constraints''	53	(3)
`General' and `Particular'; `Natural' and `Conventional'	56	(1)
Negative versus Positive Rights	57	(1)
Negative versus Positive Rights to Liberty	58	(1)
Libertarianism and Negative Rights	59	(3)
Liberty and Property	62	(17)
How Liberty and Property Are Related	62	(1)
Property Rights	63	(3)
Property in Oneself	66	(3)
From Liberty to Property in Things	69	(4)
Property Rights and the ``Freedom Entails Unfreedom'' Paradox	73	(6)
Initial Acquisition	79	(15)
Getting Ownership Started	79	(1)
Rights to Things Are Rights to Act	80	(2)
Another ``Libertarianism Restricts Liberty'' Argument	82	(3)
``Acquiring'' Not an Act	85	(2)
Arthur's Argument: Acquisition as Harmful	87	(7)
Property Rights Concluded	94	(11)
Transfer	94	(4)
Equality	98	(1)
Capitalist Rights Not to Be Capitalists	99	(1)
Resources and Generational Considerations	100	(5)
PART TWO: Foundations: Is Libertarianism Rational?
Introduction	105	(5)
On ``Foundations''	105	(3)
The Options	108	(2)
Intuitions in Moral Philosophy	110	(12)
Two Kinds of Intuitionism	110	(1)
Metaphysical Intuitionism	110	(1)
Mysteriousness	111	(1)
Futility	111	(1)
Disagreement	112	(1)
Society-Dependence	112	(1)
Generality	112	(2)
Importance	114	(1)
Methodological Intuitionism	115	(2)
Disagreement, Again	117	(1)
Reflective Equilibrium	118	(1)
The Practicality of Morals	118	(2)
Moral ``Science''?	120	(2)
Morality	122	(9)
The Need for Clarity about Morality	122	(1)
`Personal' versus `Social' Morality	123	(4)
The Compleat Deontologist?	127	(1)
Conventional versus Critical Morality	128	(3)
Contractarianism	131	(17)
The Idea of the ``Contract'' Approach to Foundations	131	(3)
Universality?	134	(1)
Hobbes	135	(2)
The Prisoner's Dilemma	137	(2)
The Sovereign	139	(1)
Is Cooperation Possible? The Prisoner's Dilemma	140	(1)
Gauthier's View	140	(4)
Morality, the Real World, and Prisoner's Dilemma	144	(2)
Being Able to Complain	146	(2)
The Logic of Contractarianism	148	(6)
The Basic Appeal	148	(1)
The ``Natural Law''	148	(2)
A Note on Utilitarianism	150	(4)
Contractarianism to Libertarianism?	154	(33)
The Project	154	(1)
A Challenge	155	(10)
The Road from Contractarianism to Libertarianism	165	(1)
Values	166	(1)
A False Start: Autonomy Generalized	167	(5)
Another False Start: An Argument from ``Survival''	172	(3)
The Central Argument	175	(1)
The Right to Liberty, Properly Grounded	175	(2)
The Crucial Question	177	(4)
Can We Improve on the Libertarian Option?	181	(2)
Efficiency versus Justice?	183	(1)
The Gospel According to St. Pareto	184	(3)
PART THREE: Libertarianism and Reality: What Does Libertarianism Imply about Concrete Social Policy?
Society and the Market	187	(20)
The Free Market	187	(1)
Market and Morals	188	(1)
Two Views about Society and the Market	189	(2)
Market Morality as a Public Good	191	(6)
What Is Economic?	197	(1)
Capitalism and Consumerism	198	(3)
Information	201	(1)
Perfect Competition	202	(1)
A Question about Factor Rent	203	(4)
The State	207	(25)
The State, Government, Public, Associations, Us	207	(4)
A Note on Democracy	211	(1)
The Down Side of Democracy	212	(2)
Political Authority	214	(1)
Authority and Coordination	215	(2)
The Right to Protection	217	(1)
Protection and Nozick's Argument for the State	217	(4)
Law	221	(2)
Enforcement and the Problem of Punishment	223	(1)
Punishment: The Options	224	(1)
Retribution	225	(1)
The Deterrence/Protection Theory	226	(3)
Restitution	229	(3)
Redistribution	232	(13)
Redistribution and the State	232	(2)
A Tale of Two Scrooges	234	(1)
Public Goods Arguments	235	(6)
A Note on the ``Minimal State''	241	(1)
A Tale of Three Rules about Mutual Aid	242	(2)
A Note on Symphony Orchestras	244	(1)
Insurance Arguments and the Welfare State	245	(24)
The Libertarian Reply	246	(1)
Insurance and Charity	247	(4)
Overwhelming Majorities and Administrative Overhead	251	(6)
A Defense of Charity	257	(6)
Duties of Charity	263	(2)
The ``Social Minimum''	265	(4)
The Problem of Children	269	(6)
The Problem	269	(1)
Nonfundamental Rights	270	(1)
Children's Rights	270	(2)
Abortion and Infanticide	272	(3)
Freedom and Information	275	(22)
Education: Should We Sell the Schools?	275	(6)
The Orwin Thesis	281	(2)
Knowledge	283	(1)
Freedom of Speech and the Ideological Marketplace	284	(6)
Pornography, Hate Literature, and the Like	290	(5)
A Libertarian Postscript	295	(2)
The Public and Its Spaces	297	(24)
``Public Property''	297	(6)
Zoning Laws	303	(4)
Rules, Regulations, and Bureaucrats	307	(2)
Sell the Streets?	309	(4)
On Discrimination in Hiring	313	(5)
Discrimination, Inefficiency, and the Market	318	(1)
The Public Sector	319	(2)
Defense and International Relations	321	(6)
Libertarianism and War	321	(2)
Foreign Policy toward Nonliberal States	323	(2)
The Nonrerevolutionist's Evolutionist Handbook	325	(2)
Epilogue. Reflections on Libertarianism	327	(12)
What Has Not Been Proven	327	(2)
The Lure of Nationalism	329	(1)
Privatization, Trivialization, and the Eternal Yuppie	330	(2)
The Secular Problem of Evil	332	(1)
Advice to Libertarian Political Parties	333	(1)
Does It Matter?	334	(1)
Concluding Note	335	(4)
Notes	339	(16)
Bibliography	355	(8)
Index	363