Vol.11 No.3 ---- Summer 1997
Contents
Libertarianism
Justin Weinberg | Freedom, Self-Ownership, and Libertarian Philosophical Diaspora
In Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality, G.A. Cohen argues that libertarianism does not
follow from respect for freedom, and that libertarianism cannot be grounded on
self-ownership. Cohen's arguments are, for the most part, compelling. That leaves the
libertarian philosopher the options of either moving leftwards--for example, along the lines
of Philippe van Parij's Real Freedom for All--or embracing some form of consequentialism.
Either way, the result is the abandonment of characteristically libertarian political
philosophy.
Jonathan Wolfe | Freedom, Liberty, and Property
If one values freedom, what sort of regime of property should one favor: libertarianism,
socialism, or something else again? Debate on this topic has been hampered by a failure to
distinguish freedom and liberty, which are both of great value, but can come into conflict.
Furthermore there are many similar concepts--distinct from both liberty and freedom, yet
each representing something we rightly value--which may also come into conflict with each
other and with freedom and liberty. Consequently the question posed above has no easy
answer.
Ricjard Kraut | Arisotelianism and Libertarianism
In Liberty and Nature, Rasmussen and Den Uyl use an Aristotelian conception of the
human good to provide a foundation for libertarianism. Their principle argument is that
intelligence and virtue are necessary ingredients in every flourishing human life, but
since these are not goods that the state can distribute to individuals, governments can
play only a modest role in promoting the common good. The state best promotes the
well-being of its citizens by allowing them to pursue happiness in a manner of their own
choosing, and defending them against those who would invade their moral boundaries.
David MacGregor | It Ayn't Rand
Chris Sciabarra's Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical offers a novel view of the founder of
Objectivism. Sciabarra contends that Rand was influenced by Hegelian and Marxist themes
that dominated Rusian thought during its Silver Age, particularly the doctrine of internal
relations. Yet while it is true that key Hegelian and Marxist concepts, such as the
dialectics of work and the master-slave relationship, are features of Rand's radical
outlook, Sciabarra fails in his major argument that Rand's dialectical method presents an
alternative to that of Marx and Hegel.
Frederick Schauer | Does Simplicity Bring Liberty?
In Simple Rules for a Complex World, Richard Epstein claims to be focusing on legal
simplicity, and on the link between legal simplicity and a legal system less intrusive on
individual liberty. It turns out, however, that Epstein's conception of simplicity is
itself soaked with the substantive idea of individual liberty. The consequences of this are
that the claim that legal simplicity brings individual liberty (and legal minimalism)
becomes true by definition, and that Epstein avoids taking on the important and interesting
questions of whether and when legal simplicity, more conventionally understood, produces
less legal intrusiveness and thus, under Epstein's own conception, more liberty.
Jeffrey Friedman | What's Wrong with Libertarianism
Libertarian arguments about the empirical benefits of capitalism are, as yet, inadequate
to convince anyone who lacks libertarian philosophical convictions. Yet "philosophical"
libertarianism founders on internal contradictions that render it unfit to make
libertarians out of anyone who does not have strong consequentialist reasons for
libertarian beliefs. The joint failure of these two approaches to libertarianism explains
why they are both present in orthodox libertarianism--they hide each other's weaknessess,
thereby perpetuating them. Libertarianism retains significant potential for illuminating the
modern world because of its distance from mainstream intellectual assumptions. But this
potential will remain unfulfilled until its ideological superstructure is dismantled.
Return to Home Page
