Libertarianism is advocacy of individual liberty of thought and action.[1] Libertarians oppose coercive authority, especially that of the state A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. In Max Weber's influential definition, it is that organization that has a "monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory&. Many libertarians support the non-aggression principle The non-aggression principle is a deontological ethical stance associated with the Anarcho-capitalist school of Libertarianism (consequentialist libertarians do not base their libertarianism on it). It is an axiom of some forms of anarchism, and also held by many political conservatives, traditionalists and natural law theory. The principle of non- which holds that individuals should not infringe upon the freedom of others. Some libertarians support a minimal state A night watchman state, or a minimal state, is a form of government in political philosophy where the government's responsibilities are so minimal they cannot be reduced much further without becoming a form of anarchy. The government's responsibilities are limited to protecting individuals from coercion, fraud and theft, to requiring reparation to (or minarchist In civics, minarchism refers to a political ideology which maintains that the state's only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract and fraud. (Such states are sometimes called night watchman states.) Minarchists defend the existence of the state as a necessary evil, but assert that it may) position and others various non-state anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. It seeks to diminish or even abolish authority in the conduct of human relations. Anarchists may widely disagree on what additional criteria are required in anarchism. The Oxford Companion to views, such as anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism is a libertarian and individualist anarchist political philosophy that advocates the elimination of the state and the elevation of the sovereign individual in a free market. Economist Murray Rothbard is credited with coining the term. In an anarcho-capitalist society, law enforcement, courts, and all other security services and left-libertarianism Some social anarchists and libertarian socialists, including Murray Bookchin, are sometimes called left-libertarian. Noam Chomsky also refers to himself as a left libertarian. “Left-libertarians” in this sense may share with "traditional socialism a distrust of the market, of private investment, and of the achievement ethic, and a.[2][verification needed][3][4][5]
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Overview
Libertarians generally advocate the maximization of freedom of thought and action, though limited by a belief in the non-aggression principle. Libertarians also exhibit differing approaches in areas such as the treatment of property rights, especially with respect to natural resources, with some libertarians advocating private ownership rights, while others hold that private ownership should be avoided as being inconsistent with the basic principles of libertarianism.
Minarchist libertarians, such as Robert Nozick, advocate a minimal state A night watchman state, or a minimal state, is a form of government in political philosophy where the government's responsibilities are so minimal they cannot be reduced much further without becoming a form of anarchy. The government's responsibilities are limited to protecting individuals from coercion, fraud and theft, to requiring reparation to with the belief that it is permissible for governments to counter aggression, while more anarchist libertarians, such as Murray Rothbard, have stated that aggression should be countered without government.[6] In contrast to the anarcho-capitalist ideals, left-libertarian anarchists such as Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and political activist. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as one of the fathers of modern linguistics, and a major figure of propose libertarian socialism Libertarian socialism is a group of political philosophies that aspire to create a society without political, economic, or social hierarchies which promotes the idea that liberty is best achieved through large-scale decentralization to empower workers, with the result of eliminating both government and private capitalist organizations, which they view as coercive.[7] Philosophies referred to as left-libertarianism Some social anarchists and libertarian socialists, including Murray Bookchin, are sometimes called left-libertarian. Noam Chomsky also refers to himself as a left libertarian. “Left-libertarians” in this sense may share with "traditional socialism a distrust of the market, of private investment, and of the achievement ethic, and a and right-libertarianism Right-libertarianism or right libertarianism is a phrase used by some to describe non-collectivist and pro-private property forms of libertarianism. Some libertarians use it to describe libertarian views labeled "right" of mainstream libertarianism on national defense or moral issues, including especially "libertarian conservatism.& are identified as variants of a broad concept of libertarianism in philosophical literature.[8]
History
Etymology
The term libertarian Libertarianism is one of the main philosophical positions related to the problems of free will and determinism, which are part of the larger domain of metaphysics. In particular, libertarianism, which is an incompatibilist position, argues that free will is logically incompatible with a deterministic universe and that agents have free will, and in a metaphysical or philosophical sense was first used by late-Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment is the era in Western philosophy and intellectual, scientific and cultural life, centered upon the eighteenth century, in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority free-thinkers Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or any dogma. The cognitive application of freethought is known as freethinking, and practitioners of freethought are known as freethinkers to refer to those who believed in free will Free will is the purported ability of agents to make choices free from constraints. Historically, the constraint of dominant concern has been the metaphysical constraint of determinism. The opposing positions within that debate are metaphysical libertarianism, the claim that determinism is false and thus that free will exists; and hard determinism,, as opposed to determinism Determinism is the philosophical view that every event, including human cognition, behaviour, decision, and action is causally determined (completely predictable) by previous events.[9] The first recorded use was in 1789 by William Belsham in a discussion of free will and in opposition to "necessitarian" (or determinist) views.[10][11]
The use of the word 'libertarian' to describe a set of political positions can be tracked to the French cognate, "Libertaire", which was coined in 1857 by French anarchist communist Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "from each Joseph Déjacque Joseph Déjacque was a French anarcho-communist poet and writer. He sought to abolish "personal property, property in land, buildings, workshops, shops, property in anything that is an instrument of work, production or consumption." who used the term to distinguish his libertarian communist Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with production and consumption based on the guiding principle: "from each approach from the mutualism Mutualism is an anarchist school of thought which can be traced to the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who envisioned a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market. Integral to the scheme was the establishment of a advocated by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism. After the events of 1848 he began to call himself a federalist.[12][13][12][14] Hence the term "libertaire" has been used as a synonym for left wing anarchism or libertarian socialism since the 1890s.[15]
In the 1950s in the United States many with classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political ideology that developed in the 19th century in England, Western Europe, and the Americas. It followed earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to personal freedom and popular government, but differed from earlier forms of liberalism in its commitment to free markets and classical economics. Notable beliefs began to describe themselves as "libertarian."[16] Academics as well as proponents of the free market A free market is a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to enforce ownership and contracts. It is the opposite of a controlled market, where the government regulates how goods, services and labor are used, priced, or distributed. Advocates of a free market traditionally consider the term to imply that the means perspectives note that free market libertarianism has been successfully propagated beyond the US since the 1970s via think tanks and political parties[17][18] and that libertarianism is increasingly viewed worldwide as a free market position.[19][20] However, Libertarian socialists Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and political activist. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as one of the fathers of modern linguistics, and a major figure of, Colin Ward and others say the term is still considered a synonym of anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. It seeks to diminish or even abolish authority in the conduct of human relations. Anarchists may widely disagree on what additional criteria are required in anarchism. The Oxford Companion to in countries other than the US.[21][22][23]
The term libertarianism is sometimes used as a synonym for anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. It seeks to diminish or even abolish authority in the conduct of human relations. Anarchists may widely disagree on what additional criteria are required in anarchism. The Oxford Companion to, with that use being especially common outside the United States,[24] which some explain this to be the original meaning of the term. Hence, under that definition, "libertarian socialism" is equivalent to "socialist anarchism".[25][26] The American use of term includes non-anarchist free-market A free market is a market without economic intervention and regulation by government except to enforce ownership and contracts. It is the opposite of a controlled market, where the government regulates how goods, services and labor are used, priced, or distributed. Advocates of a free market traditionally consider the term to imply that the means political philosophy.
Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:09:42 GMT+00:00
Big Hollywood (blog) A better title for libertarianism , in my opinion, is classic liberalism. Concerned with things like, say, liberty. Straight out of the writings of ...
