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eBook details
- Title: Discussion: Must We Choose Between Chandran Kukathas's "Two Constructions of Libertarianism"? (Critical Essay)
- Author : Libertarian Papers
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Politics & Current Events,Books,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
Introduction Chandran Kukathas argues that we have a problem in how to understand Libertarianism, and that this problem requires us to choose between two views, each of which has uncomfortable implications. He begins by noting that "Libertarians believe that all individuals are entitled to live as they choose, free from interference by other persons or by the state.... libertarians think that what is most important is to defend the freedom of individuals to live without being victims of aggression by others--against their persons, or against the property they have rightly acquired." The liberty they defend is, of course, "only that liberty that is consistent with a respect for the liberty and property of others." Right, of course: the general right to liberty entails precisely that. So as to governments, "its purpose is to protect individual liberty against invasion by others, whether at home or from abroad. Otherwise, it should leave people alone. What could be simpler?" Yet, he argues, things are not so simple: "there is more than one kind of society that could issue from such simple beginnings. Indeed, there are at least two very different societies which might be constructed out of such libertarian first principles." He tags these the "Federation of Liberty" and the "Union of Liberty."