Episodes
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10. An Anarchist Legal Order
A legal system is an institution to provide dispute resolution through judicial, legislative and executive functions. The state is that which maintains in large part a monopoly over force, geography and the legal system. What’s wrong with a forcible monopoly? You are saying that you are the only...
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8. Punishment and War
When can you respond to force? The four response positions range from “never” to “impose by force some further penalty on them”. A person’s capacity must be considered. Compensation instead of punishment is generally a libertarian society’s choice. Threatening to do something is not the same as...
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9. Culture and Liberty
Does libertarianism require widespread acceptance of certain cultural values? One end of the spectrum says yes [thick libertarianism]. The other end says libertarianism does not require any other set of values except the non-aggression principle – the right not to have force initiated against…
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6. Justice, Rights, and Consequences
Now we go from ethics to liberty. Justice, narrowly, is a legitimately enforceable claim. What is the consideration between justice, rights and utility? Justice seems more rule-oriented than rights. Libertarian rights theory can consider consequences. The sixth of ten lectures from the…
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4. The Moral Standpoint
Why should I care about anyone else but myself? We each have our own values to pursue. Is all valuation relative or neutral? The values we actually use seem to be agent neutral. We endorse these values both for ourselves and for others. Hobbes says that in a state of nature it is legitimate for...
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2. The Praxeological Case for an Ultimate End
Claims of ultimate ends, like happiness or well-being, are impossible, says Hobbes. In this life, the fact that you are still acting shows that you have not achieved any ultimate end. Does action really express dissatisfaction? You can act to keep something happening, rather than to try to change...
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3. Free Will: Two Paradoxes of Choice
Economics deals with the preferences you are actually acting on. The judgment you are not acting on could still be around. So, action does not imply total judgment. If we had free will we could control our actions. We can choose our overall pattern of actions. You are not stuck with any…
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About this show
Presented by Roderick T. Long, this ten-lecture seminar surveys the praxeological foundations of libertarian ethics. Hosted at the Mises Institute, 26-30 June 2006.Download the complete audio of this event (ZIP) here.
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