New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory
Classical liberals and libertarians believe that individuals have rights, even if there is debate about just why we have them or how this can be proved.
Hayek’s Road to Serfdom
The work of Hayek, in contrast with the Marxist-Socialist-Interventionist-Galbraithian paradigm that held sway in the mid-20th century, appears as a beacon for free enterprise amidst a sea of totalitarianism. When considered in comparison to the writings against which he contended, Hayek’s was a lonely voice, crying in the wilderness for freedom; he stood, like the Dutch boy, with his finger in the dike of onrushing statism.
Volume 12, Number 2 (1996)
Libertarian Literature Review Volume 12, Number 2
Beginning with this issue of the Journal of Libertarian Studies, this section will provide short descriptions of recent scholarly articles expounding on libertarian theory or otherwise of special interest to libertarians. The articles listed will be drawn exclusively from non-libertarian periodicals, since specialized libertarian fora are well-known sources of libertarian theory.
Volume 12, Number 2 (1996)
Mises on Fascism, Democracy, and Other Questions
No one could have admired and respected Ludwig von Mises more than did Murray Rothbard, who dedicated his magn1 um opus in economic theory, Man, Economy, and State, to his great mentor.
Might versus Right
Ludwig von Mises criticized the ‘old liberals’ for assuming the stance of a ‘perfect king’ whose only objective is to make his citizens happy. Mises contended that the fiction of the ‘perfect king’ contributed to the modern notion of a godlike state.
Customary Law With Private Means of Resolving Disputes and Dispensing Justice: A Description Of a Modern System of Law and Order Without State Coercion
It is not actually possible to describe what a system of privately produced law and order would be like in modem society because one cannot describe what does not exist, and, more fundamentally, guesses based on historic privatized systems or current trends in privatization may miss the mark substantially. The sophisticated crime protection and prevention equipment and the level of training and skill possessed by many crime prevention specialists today may be archaic compared to what would emerge as a result of the incentives created by full privatization.
Punishment and Proportionality: the Estoppel Approach
No doubt punishment serves many purposes. It can deter crime and prevent the offender from committing further crimes. Punishment can even rehabilitate some criminals, if it is not capital. It can satisfy a victim’s longing for revenge, or his relatives’ desire to avenge. Punishment can also be used as a lever to gain restitution, recompense for some of the damage caused by the crime. For these reasons, the issue of punishment is, and always has been, of vital concern to civilized people. They want to know the effects of punishment and effective ways of carrying it out.
Concepts of the Role of Intellectuals In Social Change Toward Laissez Faire
Volume 9, Number 2 (1990)
The creed of laissez faire-individual liberty, inviolate rights of property, free markets, and minimal government is virtually bound to be a radical one. That is, this libertarian creed is necessarily set in profound conflict with existing forms of polity, which have generally been one or another variety of statism. In this paper, we concentrate, not on examining or justifying the laissez-faire doctrines of various thinkers, but, given those doctrines, how these writers and theorists proposed to try to bring about their ideal polity.
Restitution in Theory and Practice
Volume 12, Number 1 (1996)
Murray Rothbard explained that “Few aspects of libertarian political theory are in less satisfactory state than the theory of punishment.” Rothbard certainly advanced this theory significantly, of course, by expounding upon the theory of “proportionality” and explaining the role of restitution in a libertarian society. But as he noted, in a libertarian world “there are only two parties to a dispute or action at law: the victim, or plaintiff, and the alleged criminal or wrong-doer.
Politics After a Nuclear Crisis
Contained in the legal systems of almost all modern liberal democratic states is the provision for extraordinary executive power to be exercised in emergencies. This power is variously called martial law, state of siege, constitutional emergency powers, and constitutional dictatorship. This power is designed for use both in the event of war and in the face of civil unrest, and many governments make extensive preparations for these contingencies.
