The Journal of Libertarian Studies was founded by Murray N. Rothbard in 1977 and is the premiere venue for the advancement of libertarianism, anarcho-capitalism, the individualist society, and non-interventionism as the first principle of political theory and practice.
A Libertarian Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic
What is the correct analysis, from a libertarian point of view, of governmental action in the face of the coronavirus? Is the state justified in imposing quarantines or vaccines to cure this disease?
Libel, Slander, and Reputation According to Rothbard’s Theory of Libertarian Law
Rothbard’s principal conclusion that libel and slander laws have no place in libertarian law is correct. But how does a reputational right operate? Who, properly, owns such a right? Is this property right alienable—transferable, and how would this work in practice?
Humanism: Progressive Philosophy at Odds with Itself
Today’s progressive humanist movement transcends freedom, liberty, and reason by seeking utopian perfection through flawed secular dogma and compulsory communitarianism. Humanism’s progressive values cannot be achieved via compulsory means, as evinced by the repeated failure of intellectual attempts to transform functioning societies into social utopias.
Does Being a Libertarian Entail a Necessary Commitment to Open Borders?
The freedom of association argument is a strong argument against open borders and thus libertarians are not necessarily committed to unrestricted immigration.
A Defense of Natural Procedural Rights
Agents have rights to stop those who are violating their rights and to rectification when their rights are violated. But in pursuing these rights, agents may also have an obligation to inform others of the extent to which they are prepared to go in enforcing these rights.
The Right to Property
The slave is a slave because his body is owned by someone else, and that owner is not the rightful owner. Slavery is theft, and theft is also slavery. Slavery exists wherever theft exists, and socialism is theft writ large.
The Libertarian Quest for a Grand Historical Narrative
While the present democratic social order may be the technologically most advanced civilization, it most certainly is not the most advanced socially. The principal counterstrategy of recivilization must be a return to “normality” by means of decentralization.
Who Should Decide What Goes into a Can of Tomatoes? Food Laws from a Voluntaryist Perspective
This paper recounts the history of food inspection from a voluntaryist perspective. In England and the United States, the efforts to achieve food safety have relied upon two main methods: education and legislation. Governments did nothing that could not be done on the free market.
