Utility and Relativism

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R.J. Moore II replied on Tue, Jul 22 2008 11:51 PM

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Well, to me ethics is just a more fancy name for morality. Now, if you want to avoid claiming that libertarianism is objectively good, or that it is an objective standard, that's fine. I don't want to force my moral standard on others. But what am I supposed to do when others try to force their standards on me ?

Anything you please.  That's what I do.

True, but libertarianism would drastically minimize life-boat scenarios, so libertarianism doesn't really ask for self-sacrifice. Yes, you can argue that for people who like to take advantage of their neighbors libertarianism tries to impose an 'unnatural duty'...

I actually think that it is more the case that libertarians want others to feel a moral duty to 'respect' liberty.  I believe it would simply be enough if people generally appreciated liberty.  'Respect' or 'deference' in any absolute sense is for fools, though.  Liberty is only so precious as I make, and only so near as I hold it.