Economics Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Libertarianism: Libertarianism prioritizes minimal government involvement in both social and economic aspects, emphasizing individual freedom and free markets. Liberalism, while also valuing individual rights, supports a more active government role in addressing social issues and economic inequalities through regulation and welfare programs. See also Liberalism._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Political Philosophy on Libertarianism - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 229 Libertarianism/Political philosophy/Lamont: (...) fruitful arguments for libertarianism are based on the value of liberty itself. The most famous twentieth-century champion of such arguments was Friedrich Hayek (1944(1); 1976a(2); 1976b(3)), though there are many varieties, often inspired by John Stuart Mill's essay On Liberty (1982)(4). This group of libertarians have responded to critics with greater depth. To see this, consider two of the more general criticisms of libertarianism (Haworth, 1994)(5). 1) VsLibertarianism: First, critics complain that libertarianism excludes state measures to improve the lives of the people, including the provision of public goods (Morris, 1998(6): ch. 9; Van Parijs, 1995(7)). 2) VsLibertarianism: Second, libertarianism is also charged with preventing state measures to alleviate deprivation and suffering. Lamont: Most ownership-based libertarian theories have failed to respond to the first criticism, parting com- pany at this point with neoclassical economists, who have generally taken the public goods problem more seriously than political libertarians. The most common responses to the second criticism have been various versions of 'tough luck': while it might be nice if individuals transfer some of their property rights to others in order to relieve suffering, people cannot justly be coerced to do so. >Coercion, >Property, >Society, >Equality, >Egalitarianism. Nozick: Nozick's view, for instance, is that respect for people's absolute property rights is more important than improving the lot of the least fortunate. The harshness of this reply has been unappealing to the majority in liberal democracies. >Liberalism, >Democracy. Hayek/Mill: Millean and Hayekian versions of libertarianism have been able to provide more fruitful replies, by appealing more directly to the values of liberty and autonomy (Lomasky, 1987)(8). >J. St. Mill, >F. A. v. Hayek. People's optimism about the government's ability to aid and empower people grew in the first 60 years of the twentieth century, but stalled in the late 1960s and the 1970s. VsInterventionism: Greater government intervention in the economy, particularly to increase welfare in the general population rather than just for the most needy, proved considerably less successful than preceding interventions targeted only to the poor. Hayek's explanation for this failure was that governments do not, and never will, have the information required for successful intervention to help the majority of the population. Mill: In agreement, Mill 's view was that individuals themselves are in the best informational position for improving their own situation, so the government should allow them the liberty to act upon it. Gaus I 230 Interventions/costs: a related contribution of Millean and Hayekian libertarianism is to highlight the costs of govern- ment intervention. >Interventions, >Interventionism. Public choice: Public choice theorists, inspired by libertarians such as James Buchanan (Brennan and Buchanan, 1985(9); Buchanan and Tullock, 1962(10); Buchanan, 1975(11); Rowley et al., 1988(12)), also argued forcefully that increasing government size substantially increases rent-seeking by lobby groups, professions, and other powerful groups, distorting economic distribution in their favour. Lamont: Once these and other consequences are taken into account, the success of government interventions in realizing their intended benefits is quite uncertain, compared with the clear and demonstrable detrimental effects these interventions have on people's liberty and autonomy. >Freedom, >Autonomy. 1. Hayek, Friedrich A. (1944) The Road to Serfdom. London: Routledge. 2. Hayek, Friedrich A. (1976a) Law, Legislation, and Liberty. Vol. 2, The Mirage ofSocial Justice. London: Routledge. 3. Hayek, Friedrich A. (1976b) The Constitution of Liberty. London: Routledge. 4. Mill (1982. 4. Mill, J. St. (1892) On Liberty. London: Longmans, Green 5. Haworth, Alan (1994) Anti-Libertarianism. London: Routledge. 6. Morris, Christopher (1998) An Essay on the Modern State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 7. Van Parijs, Philippe (1995) Real FreedomforA11: What (If Anything) Can Justify Capitalism? Oxford: Oxford University Press. 8. Lomasky, Loren E. (1987) Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community. New York: Oxford University Press. 9. Brennan, Geoffrey and James M. Buchanan (1985) The Reason of Rules: Constitutional Political Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press. 10. Buchanan, James M. and Gordon Tullock (1962) The Calculus of Consent. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michi Press. 11. Buchanan, James M. (1975) The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 12. Rowley, C. K., R. D. Tollison and G. Tullock, eds (1988) The Political Economy of Rent-Seeking. Boston: Kluwer. Lamont, Julian 2004. „Distributive Justice“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Political Philosophy Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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