Libertarianism

Libertarian political thought is characterized by the strict priority given to liberty (understood in negative terms) over other values, such as authority, tradition and equality. Libertarians thus seek to maximize the realm of individual freedom and minimise the scope of public authority, typically seeing the state as the principal threat to liberty. This anti-statism differs from classical anarchist doctrines in that it is based upon an uncompromising individualism that places little or no emphasis upon human sociability or cooperation.

The two best-known libertarian traditions are rooted in, respectively, the idea of individual rights and laissez-faire economic doctrines. Libertarian theories of rights generally stress that the individual is the owner of his or her person and thus that people have an absolute entitlement to the property that their labour produces. Libertarian economic theories emphasize the self-regulating nature of the market mechanism and portray government intervention as always unnecessary and counter-productive. Although all libertarians reject government’s attempts to redistribute wealth and deliver social justice, a division can nevertheless be drawn between those libertarians who subscribe to anarcho-capitalism and view the state as an unnecessary evil, and those who recognize the need for a minimal state, sometimes styling themselves as ‘minarchists’. The relationship between libertarianism and liberalism is complex and contested. Some view libertarianism as an outgrowth of classical liberalism. Most, however, argue that liberalism, even in its classical form, refuses to give priority to liberty over order and therefore does not exhibit the hostility to the state that is the defining feature of libertarianism. On the other hand, New Right thinking within conservatism contains an unmistakable libertarian emphasis.

Libertarian theories are founded on an extreme faith in the individual and in freedom. Their virtue is that they provide a constant reminder of the oppressive potential that resides within all the actions of government. However, criticisms of libertarianism fall into two general categories. One sees the rejection of any form of welfare or redistribution as an example of capitalist ideology, linked to the interests of the business community and private wealth. The other highlights the imbalance in a libertarian philosophy that allows it to stress rights but ignore responsibilities, and which values individual effort and ability but fails to take account of the extent to which these are a product of the social environment.

Adam Smith (1723–90) A Scottish economist and philosopher, Smith developed the free-market economic theories upon which much of libertarianism is based. A classical liberal rather than a libertarian, Smith’s theory of motivation tried to reconcile human self-interestedness with unregulated social order. He was a strong critic of mercantilism and made the first systematic attempt to explain the workings of the economy in market terms, emphasizing the role of the ‘invisible hand’ of market competition. Smith was nevertheless aware of the limitations of laissez-faire. His best known works include The Theory of Moral Sentiments ([1759] 1976) and The Wealth of Nations ([1776] 1930).

William Godwin (1756–1836) An English philosopher and novelist, Godwin developed a thorough-going critique of authoritarianism that amounted to the first full exposition of anarchist beliefs. His extreme form of liberal rationalism readjusted traditional social contract theory in portraying government as the source of, not cure for, disorder in society. He relied upon a theory of human perfectibility based on education and social conditioning. Though an individualist, he believed that humans are capable of genuinely disinterested benevolence. Godwin’s chief political work is An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice ([1793] 1976).

Max Stirner (1806–56) A German philosopher, Stirner developed an extreme form of individualism based upon egoism. Stirner saw egoism as a philosophy that places the individual self at the centre of the moral universe, implying that individual action should be unconstrained by law, social convention or moral and religious principles. Such a position points clearly in the direction of atheism and individualist anarchism, even though Stirner gave little attention to the nature of the stateless society. His most important political work is The Ego and His Own ([1845] 1963).

Friedrich Hayek (1899–1992) An Austrian economist and political philoso-pher, Hayek was the most influential of modern free-market theorists. An exponent of the so-called Austrian School, he was a firm believer in individualism and market order, and an implacable critic of socialism. He portrayed the market as the only means of ensuring economic efficiency, and attacked government intervention as implicitly totalitarian. Hayek was a classical liberal rather than a conventional libertarian, supporting a modified form of traditionalism and upholding an Anglo-American version of constitutionalism. Hayek’s best known works include The Road to Serfdom ([1948] 1976), The Constitution of Liberty (1960) and Law, Legislation and Liberty (1979).

Robert Nozick - Nozick is the most important modern libertarian philosopher. His rights-based theory of justice (developed in response to the ideas of John Rawls) rejects all policies of welfare and redistribution, and advocates the decriminalization of ‘victimless crimes’ such as prostitution and drug-taking. He nevertheless rejects anarchist beliefs on the grounds that competition between private protection agencies will inevitably lead to the re-establishment of some form of minimal state.

Murray Rothbard (1926–95) A US economist and political activist, Rothbard was a leading theorist of modern anarcho–capitalism. He combined a belief in an unrestricted system of laissez-faire capitalism with a ‘basic libertarian code of the inviolate right of person and property’ and, on that basis, rejected the state as a ‘protection racket’. In Rothbard’s libertarian society of the future there would be no legal possibility for coercive aggression against the person or the property of any individual. His major writings include Power and Market (1970), For a New Liberty (1973) and Ethics of Liberty (1982).