A political philosophy that advocates maximal individual liberty, strong property rights and a limited government. Not to be used for the libertarian position on free will.
Questions tagged [libertarianism]
17 questions
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How can one argue against income inequality while defending achievement and expertise inequality - beyond invoking Rawls' difference principle?
Update: Based on some of the comments and answers, I feel like I need to clarify something. I wasn't saying that scientists and intellectuals are necessarily the ones making millions of dollars a year (they usually aren't).
My question is more…
Alexander S King
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How would Robert Nozick and Ayn Rand respond to the following moral dilemma?
Consider the following scenario:
In a remote isolated village, there is a family with a sick infant, who desperately and urgently needs a specific type of medicine. They have no way of procuring it in time, since the closest pharmacy is 500 Km…
Alexander S King
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Do libertarians like Robert Nozick and Ayn Rand agree with the idea of enforcing intellectual property?
How do hardline libertarians like Nozick and Rand consider the question intellectual property and monopolies through patents?
On one hand, it seem to me that they would support the concept, given the importance they place on the freedom to do as…
Alexander S King
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Libertarianism and scarcity
Can anyone share some source information about any notable libertarian positions involving those occasions where scarcity exists only due to a localized scenario; i.e. If Person A is dying of thirst, and Person B has a bottle of water available - is…
Eliot G York
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Exploring philosophy behind "Catch-22" novel: individual in war
I am looking for the name and possibly deeper development of the system of ethics / morality exemplified by the attitude of Yossarian, the main protagonist of Catch-22 novel by Joseph Heller. Yossarian's primary concern is his own…
Roger Vadim
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How can land and natural resources become “private property”?
I’ve been trying to understand how an anarchic society would be initiated, but the two main ideas- anarcho-communism and anarcho-capitalism- not only contradict each other, but seem to be riddled with contradictions themselves.
According to…
Cannabijoy
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Why is taxation opposed by libertarians?
I have recently learnt that taxation is opposed by libertarians and that they the cite the principle of self - possession to justify this, an interesting argument along these lines equated taxation to slavery.
My question is this:
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user3660112
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Utilitarianism and liberty
This is most likely a stupid question, but it has been on my mind for a really long time now.
We think of utilitarianism as saying "action X is right if it promotes happiness and wrong if if it promotes unhappiness". This is the so-called principle…
user4409
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Classical liberalism and libertarianism
What is the distinction between classical liberalism and libertarianism?
Curious
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Argument against democracy/socialism as an ethical system
If n=4 people showed up and told you, "we're going to take our combined wages and vote about what to do with half of it", most people would consider it theft at best. Even in theory, I can't imagine anyone thinking it would be right. So for n=5,…
Mårten
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Liberty and homogeneous states ? Philosophical grounds answer
There is a lot of literature out there trying to justify the formation of homogeneous states (eg. like racial ethnostates) based on libertarian values. The liberty point boils down to, that if a homogeneous group of people decide to find some remote…
curiousaboutliberty
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How does libertarian philosophy deal with voluntary cannibalism?
I came across the example in a book of consensual cannibalism: Person A gave his willing and explicit consent to be killed and eaten by person B, in exchange for nothing but the experience of it (No dollar transaction was involved). Libertarian…
Pacheco0
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Time travel, free will and "could have done otherwise"
The phrase "could have done otherwise" is almost essential to all discussions concerning free will. Most philosophers, as I understand the literature, believe this phrase characterizes and validates moral responsibility. My question relates to how…
natojato
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Is anarcho-socialism an oxymoron?
I have regularly heard debate between anarcho-socialists and anarcho-capitalists about which one is the true oxymoron.
If we take anarcho-socialism to mean no government and economic equality (+ collective ownership of industry), it would seem to me…
user17065
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Is illiteracy something you could claim as freedom in the Libertarian world view?
Libertarians seek to maximize political freedom and autonomy,
emphasizing freedom of choice. (Wiki)
Is it consequent or illogical to argument that a Libertarian world view allows for illiteracy as a personal choice/freedom?
J. Doe
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