Libertarianism as the Political Philosophy - Essay Example

Name Professor’s name Course no. Date Libertarianism In general, libertarianism is the political philosophy that upholds the rights of individuals to liberty. To keep, attain and interchange their holdings. It also considers the safeguarding of individual rights as its primary role for the state. However, libertarianism is simply the basic moral principle or as derived one. In some cases, libertarianism is identifiable with the principle that each and every agent has the right to equal and maximum empirical negative liberty. In this case, empirical negative refers to the lack of forceful interference from others when trying to do your own things. This is sometimes referred to as ‘Spencerian Libertarianism’. This view claims that it is the same as the “self-ownership” view of Libertarianism. However, this has been cogently argued by Kagan (1994), he claimed that the former either leads to the radical pacifism, where use of force is not allowed or is well-matched with an extensive range of views bar the “self-ownership” Libertarianism (Mack). While libertarianism can be advocated as a whole theory of moral permissibility, it is mostly supported as a theory of justice in two ways. Firstly, justice is mainly concerned with moral obligations that people owe to others. It isn’t concerned with impersonal obligations or the duties that we place to ourselves. Secondly, justice deal with the morally enforceable obligations that we possess. It doesn’t address the obligations for which it is not allowed to use force in order to enforce compliance. Libertarianism usually is a collection of political philosophies that contain similar themes of people’s liberties. A working definition is provided by the American Heritage Dictionary, it states that libertarianism is the minimal role of the state. Roberts (1974) defines it on two points, first is that human actions aren’t covered by the universal laws and secondly individual recognition as agent in control of individual actions. Sprinkle (1937), suggests that actions has 3 components before realization. Firstly, the agent is endowed with the power of choice, secondly, the agent has a mental blueprint holding out possible choices they may pursue. Lastly, is recognizing that there is nothing stopping the agent from achieving the set goals. Sprinkle advocates that human freedom is compatible with both indeterminism and determinism. Libertarian political philosophy is keen on the historical component of justice. Libertarian theories therefore, dwell mainly on the process where social results emerge, and refute the theories that just look at the outcomes. Libertarian Theories of Politics As earlier stated, Libertarianism supports formal equality and negative liberty in various aspects of the Society such as the private and economic spheres. Libertarians advocate for laissez-faire economic policies, this includes the protection of property rights and a free market. Libertarians are also in support of the laissez-faire approach towards personal behavior. All persons should have the ability to do and think as they wish as long as it does do no harm to others. Perhaps one of the most important versions of libertarian theories is in Robert Nozick’s works “Entitlement Theory.” It states that the distributive justice mainly consists of 3 principles; Principle of justice in transfer, principles of justice in acquisition and principle of rectification for the violations of principle one and two. One of Nozick theories is known as the ‘Nozickean right-libertarianism, it interpreted the Lockean proviso as requiring that no person should me made off by appropriation or use of natural resources. Different people may object this on the basis that the compensation payment may be less. Compensation is based on individual reservation price, which is the least payment that can leave a person indifferent to non-appropriation or non-use. The appropriation or use of natural resources naturally brings important benefits even after giving said compensation. Of his other theories, the “Entitlement theory “of just distribution, Nozick raises concerns on ordered theories of distribution. His theory has 3 main aspects that help interpret libertarianism, which is concerned with the methodology and process that goods are distributed. Should his first 2 principles be followed, then distribution is fair. However, these 2 principles are seldom followed in the society, crime, enslavement and defacement of property exist always thus the need for the third principal. The third principle of rectification of injustice, advocates that since the entitlement theory is historical, various injustices should be corrected to create fair distribution. Nozick’s Entitlement Theory is majorly influential towards intellectual circles that concern distributive justice. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for libertarians, especially modern libertarians to familiarize with Nozick arguments if they are to explore distributive justice (Mack). Some of the libertarian economic ideals are expressed by Adam Smith (1723-190), a Scottish economist. Adam wrote the seminal defense of capitalism in Wealth of Nations of 1776 to 1976. He applies various liberal concepts, including consent, rationality, individuals, and equality as arguing for the formation of the free market. In his works, Smith writes that a free market yields economic results that are beneficial to the society while providing opportunities for advancements. When people are allowed to act freely in the marketplaces, the prices of commodities tend to be relatively low, thus leading to the growth of new and better goods. This outcome is possible due to the natural self-interests of people. When individuals are allowed to follow their own interests, they create a competitive atmosphere which in turn develops to economic advantages to the final consumers and conducive conditions for manufacturers to merit. Any interference from the state may undermine this competitive atmosphere and therefore, undermine the advantages. Ultimately, Smith was opposed to the idea of the state regulating markets (Smith). British philosopher John Stuart (1806-1773), best articulates libertarian concerns for individual’s freedoms in private matters. Best described as Civil Libertarian, Mill advocates for people to be allocated a wider latitude of thought and behavior, only limiting if it harms others. His justification for freedom from the state in people’s private life is founded from the value it provides to the society. Mill’s believed that the freedom of speech and though allowed the quest of truth while eliminating error. Such freedom allows individuals to contest ideas and norms. Thus, it is a platform for human beings to get the truth or dispute falsity. The freedom of action can be of benefit to the society as well. Mill argued that the power to follow different lifestyles builds “living experiments”, which individuals can observe and learn from. Therefore, it allows humans to make better and informed decisions on which lifestyle they want to embrace (Mill and Rapaport). Ayn Rand (1905-1982), an American immigrant from Russia, is accredited for bringing libertarianism to the public’s attention. As a successful novelist and philosopher, she came up with a philosophy of objectivism. It expounded on many different libertarian ideals. In her novel Atlas Shrugged (1975-2005), she warns of the dangers of extreme economic regulations by the state. Rand also celebrates rational selfishness, productivity and the free market economy. Such themes are also portrayed in her objectivist philosophy. Rand agrees that the biggest human virtue one can possess is the exercising of reason while the rational quest of self-interest is the utmost moral purpose of life. She describes that people ought to live only by themselves and not as a sacrifice for others. Therefore, the sole purpose of the government is to provide protection for its citizens from intimidation in order for them to pursue individual interests with no interference. Similarly, Rand advocated for the laissez-faire capitalism (Press). Robert Kane (1938) has a huge contribution in libertarianism, in his work on ‘libertarianism’, he discusses four issues; the compatibility question, the intelligibility question, indeterminism and responsibility and finally, responsibility, luck and chance. His work aimed at defending the libertarian view of free will which he had been developing over the years. He argued that free will was not compatible with determinism since free will needs crucial responsibility for one’s actions. His views have helped other libertarians to think outside the box and learn new ways to think (Kane). Libertarians have used several different justifications and rationales in defense to their theories such as progress, utility, self-ownership, natural laws and rational nature of people. Thus, there exist multiple forms of libertarianism. Nevertheless, it is important to note that such philosophy favors negative liberty in every aspect of life, but only if it does not harm other people’s freedoms. Modern Liberal Theories The modern liberalism main focus is on a person's welfare. It has been developed as a reform strategy to improve the less fortunate conditions through government services and the reallocation of resources. Although modern liberals have different policies, they share a common interest which is the state’s assistance to its people so that they can chase their interests and enjoy their freedoms. Below are some modern liberal ideas. American philosopher John Dewer (1849-1952), and also a renowned education reformist, criticized individualism related to negative liberty. Dewer said that a pledge to liberty needed recognition of the relationship between the society and its people. In this case, the people are a product of political, economic and social institutions. He believed that a theoretical understanding of people may miss their real nature. Furthermore, it may be misleading since it suggests that negative liberty is in alignment with the meaning of being a human being. He, however, argues that the human social nature means that such liberty can be understood in a positive manner. Freedom and liberty means having the ability to shape social conditions affecting an individual. Therefore, freedom is a valuable activity involving a collective exercise of self and social-development (Dewey). Herbert Croly (1869-1930), was a key voice for modern liberalism. He disputed the issues on the laissez-faire individualism that advocated for extreme disparities in power and wealth. These socially and morally unwanted disparities produced social and economic exploitations that corrupted the country. The competitive quest for money also undercuts sincere individuality. Croly believed that a centralized and much stronger government was necessary to address such problem effectively. He was in favor a government that shared its resources to its citizens so as to benefit them all. He added that the state should use its economic power to ensure poverty was an insignificant social factor. Furthermore, the state should intervene so as to increase the workers' living standards as well as raising their economic independence (Croly). Modern Libertarianism Despite libertarianism and modern liberalism representing different theories, both are part of the liberal tradition and, therefore, have the same liberal assumptions as well as commitments. Liberal traditions main concerns are based on individual interests. Its important political values are toleration, consent, autonomy, equality and liberty. However, Liberty is the most important for the liberal traditions just as the term liberal advocates. Liberty considers the promotions of people’s freedom, an important duty of the society and state. Such emphasis on freedom allows for toleration to be a necessary value for both the society and the state (Plamenatz). Libertarianism and modern liberalism both share the liberal tradition values and the view of human nature. However, they are significantly different in their meaning of 2 key concepts, which are equality and liberty. There are two different ways of interpreting the meaning of liberty, positive liberty and negative liberty. Positive liberty refers to the ability to act and accomplish one’s desires. It refers to having the means and the power to attain a certain goal or to live in certain ways. Therefore, state’s intervention may be needed so as to accord people what they may require in order to satisfy their needs and aspirations. Negative liberty is the lack of restraints or limitations. In this case, individuals are free so long as they can work with no interference from other people. Equality has different meanings as well. The formal meaning, however, is individuals being treated equally and are also considered decently equal under the law. Essentially, formal equality cuts off barriers to action. Another understanding of equality is in terms of opportunity. Equal opportunity dwells on providing people with an equal chance to succeed or compete. It tries to remove any unnecessary disadvantages. According to John Rawls, a famous philosopher, he describes equality of outcome as a commitment to the concept of redistribution. This means that people end up having the same services, resources and goods (Green, Harris, and Morrow). Libertarianism is different to modern liberalism since it is more committed to the formal equality and negative equality. The main objective of the state is to prevent illegal uses of force, therefore, offering protection to the people, property and their freedom. People should otherwise be allowed to exercise their ideas and decisions and protect their well-being with the minimum interference from the state. Formal equality advocates that the state government treats its citizens with equality. Therefore, Libertarians stand is in favor of limited powers and duties. Conclusion Modern liberalism advocate for positive liberty as well as equal opportunities that leads to the well-being of the state. These liberals also support use of socialism to achieve goals. Welfarism and socialism are, however, not to be confused. Socialism usually advocates for state control over the means of manufacturing and distribution of products. Socialism and Welfarism are not compatible political theories but most liberals support for both their policies. Libertarianism advocates for one goal; the minimal interference from the government in the facilitation of negative liberty. Yet, such interference even if minimal, should not be self-evident. Libertarians also require the government to provide protection to its people. Thus, libertarians play a vital role in political theory and advocate for negative liberty in the entire aspect of economic and social life. The number of libertarian political theorist, however, is quite small. Nevertheless, there is a reason to be optimistic about the future of libertarianism due to the appeal of negative liberty (“Research Paper on Modern Liberalism, Conservatism, and Libertarianism - EssayEmpire”). Work Cited: Croly, Herbert David. Progressive Democracy. Transaction Publishers, 1970. Print. Dewey, John. Individualism Old and New. Prometheus Books, 1999. Print. Green, Thomas Hill, Paul Harris, and John Morrow. Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation and Other Writings. Cambridge University Press, 1986. Print. Kane, Robert. “Libertarianism.” Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition 144.1 (2009): 35–44. Print. Mack, Eric. “Robert Nozick’s Political Philosophy.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ed. Edward N. Zalta. Summer 2015. N.p., 2015. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 26 May 2015. Mill, John Stuart, and Elizabeth Rapaport. On Liberty. Hackett Publishing, 1978. Print. Plamenatz, John Petrov. Consent, Freedom and Political Obligation. Oxford U.P., 1968. Print. Press, Zola. Atlas Shrugged. Zola Press, 2010. Print. “Research Paper on Modern Liberalism, Conservatism, and Libertarianism - EssayEmpire.” N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2015. Smith, Adam. Wealth of Nations. Cosimo, Inc., 2007. Print. Read More