Difference between revisions of "What Is Libertarianism?"

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(Philosophical Fairytales)
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Most libertarian authors rely on natural rights.<ref>[[David Boaz]], [[Libertarianism: A Primer]] pp.82-87</ref>  Natural rights were originally invented to oppose stories such as rights of kings.  They are "nonsense on stilts" that is as popular, insubstantial and unprovable as souls.  
 
Most libertarian authors rely on natural rights.<ref>[[David Boaz]], [[Libertarianism: A Primer]] pp.82-87</ref>  Natural rights were originally invented to oppose stories such as rights of kings.  They are "nonsense on stilts" that is as popular, insubstantial and unprovable as souls.  
  
The supposedly just and non-coercive Nozickian minimal state of [[Anarchy, State and Utopia]] is notorious for its failure to justify initial acquisition of property, the basis of the entire scheme.  The whole thing appeals to gut feelings as fallaciously as Steven Colbert does, starting with the first sentence: "Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights.)"
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The supposedly just and non-coercive Nozickian minimal state of [[Anarchy, State, and Utopia]] is notorious for its failure to justify initial acquisition of property, the basis of the entire scheme.  The whole thing appeals to gut feelings as fallaciously as Steven Colbert does, starting with the first sentence: "Individuals have rights, and there are things no person or group may do to them (without violating their rights.)"
  
 
Objectivism starts with the fairytale of a priori knowledge.  "A is A", for example.  But that doesn't work for the real world, because the real world has time: A at time 1 is not necessarily the same as A at time 2.  It's never the same water in the river, and even protons can spontaneously decay.  A priori knowledge at best can build models: whether the models are accurate or inaccurate is a matter of empirical study of the real world.
 
Objectivism starts with the fairytale of a priori knowledge.  "A is A", for example.  But that doesn't work for the real world, because the real world has time: A at time 1 is not necessarily the same as A at time 2.  It's never the same water in the river, and even protons can spontaneously decay.  A priori knowledge at best can build models: whether the models are accurate or inaccurate is a matter of empirical study of the real world.

Revision as of 11:21, 8 June 2012