Libertarianism and Libertinism

There is perhaps no greater confusion in all of political economy than that between libertarianism and libertinism. That they are commonly mistaken for one another is an understatement of the highest order. For several reasons, it is difficult to compare and contrast libertarianism and libertinism. First and most important, on some issues the two views do closely resemble one another, at least superficially. Second-perhaps purely by accident, perhaps due to etymological considerations-the two words not only sound alike, but are spelled almost identically. It is all the more important, then, to distinguish between the very different concepts these words represent.

Volume 11, Number 1 (1994)