the only ethical model that is consistent with this Sandel, Michael J. Liberalism and the Limits of Jus-
principle is one that does not impose any particular tice. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University
value system. Whereas traditional ethics often praise Press, 1982.
selfless acts and condemn those motivated alone by
self-interest, liberal thinkers believe that the natural See also: Campaign finance reform; Common good;
selfish desires of human beings will ultimately lead Communitarianism; Conservatism; Democracy; Lib-
to progress and happiness for all of society’s mem- ertarianism; Mill, John Stuart; Niebuhr, Reinhold;
bers. The question thus becomes whether any princi- Political liberty; Rorty, Richard; Two Treatises of
ples that do not presuppose any particular vision of Government.
the good life can be found.
Philosopher Ayn Rand advocated what she called
“rational” self-interest. Under this approach, the in-
dividual must adopt certain character traits, or vir-
Libertarianism
tues, that help one develop a rational approach to Definition: Political movement advocating abso-
making judgments about one’s own life. For exam- lute personal liberty and the severe limitation or
ple, virtues such as integrity—consistently acting in elimination of government
accordance with one’s beliefs—and honesty ensure a Type of ethics: Theory of ethics
rational approach to self-governance. Thus, ethics Significance: Libertarianism treats individual au-
that provide for development of the self ensure that tonomy as the highest good. As a result, libertari-
the principle of individual sovereignty has the de- ans are commonly on the left wing in terms of
sired result on society as a whole. In other words, eth- civil rights and on the right wing in matters of eco-
ical obligations are generally owed to the self rather nomics and public policy.
than to others. The major ethical dilemma posed by
liberalism is the development of a principle by which The libertarian movement consists of a diverse group
conflicting individual conduct can be resolved. of individuals who are united in the view that any so-
Sharon K. O’Roke cial or political institution is wrong if it interferes
with individuals’ control over their own lives. Liber-
Further Reading tarians defend property rights, the free-market econ-
Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence: Five omy, and the full range of civil freedoms, including
Hundred Years of Cultural Life, 1500 to the Pres- the rights to abortion, freedom of speech and the press,
ent. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. sexual freedom, and the use of drugs and alcohol.
Berlin, Isaiah. Four Essays on Liberty. New York: Libertarianism should be placed on the political
Oxford University Press, 1979. spectrum in contrast to conservatism, modern liber-
Bramsted, E. K., and K. J. Melhuish, eds. Western alism, and totalitarianism. Conservatives are gener-
Liberalism: A History in Documents from Locke ally in favor of more economic freedoms but fewer
to Croce. London: Methuen, 1978. civil freedoms; conservatives typically favor anti-
Freeden, Michael. The New Liberalism: An Ideology abortion, antidrug, antisodomy, and some censor-
of Social Reform. Oxford, England: Clarendon ship laws. Modern liberals are generally in favor of
Press, 1978. more civil freedoms but fewer economic freedoms;
Gray, John. Liberalism. Minneapolis: University of modern liberals typically favor compulsory wealth-
Minnesota Press, 1986. redistribution schemes and increased regulation of
Merquior, J. G. Liberalism Old and New. Boston: business. Totalitarians reject liberty in the economic
Twayne Publishers, 1991. and civil realms. In contrast to these three major po-
Mill, John Stuart. On Liberty and Other Essays. New litical movements, libertarians claim to advocate both
York: Oxford University Press, 1959. civil and economic liberty consistently.
Rand, Ayn. The Virtue of Selfishness. New York:
New American Library, 1964. History
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Libertarian theory has roots in the history of mod-
Harvard University Press, 1971. ern political and economic thought. It draws on ele-
847
Libertarianism Ethics
ments of the classical liberal tradition in politics, treat others as ends in themselves, such libertarians
as exemplified in such thinkers as John Locke. derive the conclusions that using force against indi-
Some libertarians emphasize classical liberalism’s viduals is immoral and, accordingly, that only politi-
contractarian tradition, while others emphasize its cal liberty is compatible with their broader moral
natural rights tradition. Modern philosophers Robert framework.
Nozick and John Hospers are representative of these As much as these proposed justifications of lib-
positions. Libertarianism also draws upon the anar- erty differ, all libertarians reach the same conclusion:
chist tradition of the nineteenth century. Murray Roth- Individuals must be left free to do what they wish
bard, usually acknowledged as the founder of mod- with their own lives and property.
ern libertarianism, is a major representative of this
tradition. Role of the State
In economics, libertarianism has drawn inspira- Libertarians also disagree among themselves
tion from the “Austrian” school of economics, most about the extent of the role of the state in promoting
notably from the work of Ludwig von Mises and No- liberty. The state is a coercive institution, and states
bel laureate F. A. Hayek, and from the “Chicago” have regularly used their coercive power to violate in-
school of economics, most notably from the work of dividuals’ liberties through arbitrary laws, the sanc-
Nobel laureates Milton Friedman and James Bu- tioning of various forms of slavery, compulsory taxa-
chanan. tion, compulsory military drafts, and so on. Reacting
to these facts, libertarians fall into two major groups.
Justifications for Liberty One group, the anarchists, argues that the state is an
Libertarians disagree among themselves about inherently evil institution that should be abolished.
how to justify the claim that liberty is the fundamen- The other major group, the “minarchists,” allows that
tal social value. Some believe that political liberty is the state can play a limited role in promoting liberty.
an axiom: The value of liberty is self-evident and Minarchist libertarians are divided into two sub-
therefore not in need of justification. Most libertari- groups. Some minarchists agree with the anarchists
ans, however, offer arguments for liberty. that the state is an evil, but unlike the anarchists they
The most common argument starts with the prem- believe it to be a necessary evil: The state can be valu-
ise that values are subjective. No individual’s values able in protecting the liberties of some individuals,
are more right than any other’s. The only universal but this value must be balanced against the inevitable
points that can be made about values is that individu- abuses of the state’s coercive power to violate indi-
als have them, and in order to pursue their values, viduals’ liberties.
individuals need to be free of coercion by other indi- Other minarchists argue that the state is an inher-
viduals. Consequently, the only universal social prin- ently good institution, as long as its coercive power
ciple is that the initiation of the use of force by one in- is constitutionally limited to defensive purposes and
dividual against another is wrong. these limits are enforced strictly. In either case,
Other libertarians justify liberty via social con- minarchist libertarians agree that the state’s func-
tract arguments. Supposing a Hobbesian or Lockean tions should not extend beyond basic police, military,
state of nature, contractarians argue that rational indi- and judicial functions, and that these functions should
viduals with conflicting interests would agree upon a be funded through voluntary mechanisms, not com-
set of legal constraints that would limit each individ- pulsory taxation. Anarchist libertarians reject any
ual’s liberties only to the extent necessary to leave all role for the state and argue that even the minarchist
other individuals at liberty. Therefore, rational indi- state functions can and should be supplied by private,
viduals would voluntarily contract to institutionalize voluntary protection agencies.
in their society the broad principle that the initiation In the political realm, however, libertarians agree
of force is wrong. that they can set aside foundational disputes about
A third group of libertarians justifies liberty by the justification of liberty and the scope of the state in
first arguing for universal and objective moral princi- order to work together for a goal on which they do
ples. Appealing to Aristotelian self-realization tele- agree: the reduction of the current scope of the state.
ology, Lockean natural rights, or Kantian duties to Stephen R. C. Hicks
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Ethics Life, meaning of
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