Difference between revisions of "What Is Liberty?"

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* [[John Hospers]] in [http://public.callutheran.edu/%7Echenxi/phil315_101.pdf What Libertarianism Is] provides two contradictory sentences.  "Each man has the right to liberty: to conduct his life in accordance with the alternatives open to him without coercive action by others."  You might notice that he does not define liberty: he declares the one vague liberty that he wants. And of course it is foolish, because every right is coercive, including the rights to life, liberty, and property that he wants, and thus contradicts his demand for liberty.  He also writes "The right to liberty: there should be no laws compromising in any way freedom of speech, of the press, and of peaceable assembly." A more specific liberty that he wants.  But no definition of liberty.
 
* [[John Hospers]] in [http://public.callutheran.edu/%7Echenxi/phil315_101.pdf What Libertarianism Is] provides two contradictory sentences.  "Each man has the right to liberty: to conduct his life in accordance with the alternatives open to him without coercive action by others."  You might notice that he does not define liberty: he declares the one vague liberty that he wants. And of course it is foolish, because every right is coercive, including the rights to life, liberty, and property that he wants, and thus contradicts his demand for liberty.  He also writes "The right to liberty: there should be no laws compromising in any way freedom of speech, of the press, and of peaceable assembly." A more specific liberty that he wants.  But no definition of liberty.
 
* [[Eric Mack]], in "[[Libertarianism (Mack)|Libertarianism]]", provides no definition of liberty.
 
* [[Eric Mack]], in "[[Libertarianism (Mack)|Libertarianism]]", provides no definition of liberty.
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* [[Brian Doherty]] does not index a definition of liberty in "[[Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement]]".
  
 
This absence of satisfactory definitions of liberty or freedom is typical of libertarian literature.  The most libertarians seem to do is to arbitrarily declare that negative liberty is the only true liberty: but that does not explain other people's conceptions.   
 
This absence of satisfactory definitions of liberty or freedom is typical of libertarian literature.  The most libertarians seem to do is to arbitrarily declare that negative liberty is the only true liberty: but that does not explain other people's conceptions.   

Revision as of 21:08, 23 May 2020