The Libertarian Idea

by Jan Narveson

Libertarianism is both a philosophy and a political view. The key concepts defining Libertarianism Individual Rights as inherent to human beings, not granted by government; a Spontaneous Order through which people conduct their daily interactions and through which society is organized independent of central (government) direction; the Rule of Law which dictates that everyone is free to do as they please so long as they do not infringe upon the rights of others; a Divided and Limited Government, checked by written constitution; Free Markets in which price and exchange is agreed upon mutually by individuals; Virtue of Production whereby the productive labour of the individual and any translation of that labour into earnings belongs, by right, to the individual who should not have to sacrifice those earnings to taxes; and Peace which has, throughout history, most commonly been disrupted by the interests of the ruling class or centralized government.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction, Economics

386 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Jan Narveson is a professor of philosophy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of a couple hundred papers in philosophical periodicals and anthologies, mainly on moral and political theory and practice, and of several books. He is on the editorial boards of many philosophic journals, is a frequent contributor to conferences in many countries, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1989, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003. He is an anarcho-capitalist and contractarian.

Reviews

[Yoss · Rating 5 out of 5]

In terms of influence within academia, Jan Narveson is the most influential libertarian philosopher since Robert Nozick. Nozick famously began his magnum opus Anarchy, Utopia, and State by asserting that individuals have certain rights and that there are certain things that no one may do to them without violating their rights. But nowhere does Nozick so much as attempt to ground his claim. Rather, he assumes it, and proceeds to explore its implications. This kind of approach does not fly with Narveson - a reputable moral philosopher and a lifelong opponent of the tendency within moral philosophy to eschew talk of "the fundamental grounding of morality" - at all.

Narveson develops his own distinctive brand of libertarianism. He rejects both utilitarian thinking and the natural-rights approach, drawing heavily on David Gauthier's contractarian account of morality as an agreement between rational agents, attempting to show that the basic output of the agreement would be libertarianism, which can be understood as the thesis that, fundamentally, we have only negative rights (rights that generate duties of non-interference), and positive rights (rights that generate duties of interference), to the extent that they exist, must arise out of free interactions between individuals.

Narveson's book is valuable both for its distinctive approach to libertarianism and for the author's edifying musings on more familiar issues that concern libertarians (and others) like war, democracy, property, abortion, infanticide, discrimination, and equality. This is a book to be read by everyone who has an interest in political and moral theory, friends and foes of libertarinaism alike.

[Pamela J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Narveson writes the most delightful academic prose I have ever encountered. This is a fast-paced work of political philosophy sprinkled liberally with normative ethics, economics, political economy, and smart humor. It is both to its credit and its detriment that the book is so totally all over the place. Recommended.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not an easy read. It takes dogged tenacity to finish. It’s an important work, with the major thrust establishing contractarianism as the moral foundation of libertarianism.

[Greg Hickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jan Narveson's The Libertarian Idea is a dense and thorough explanation and defense of libertarian theory. It's not quite as easy to read as Robert Nozick's famed Anarchy, State, and Utopia (also not a simple undertaking), but it is perhaps more comprehensive in laying out the foundations of libertarian theory. This project occupies Part 1 of the book, with Narveson taking explicit and welcome pains to avoid any appeals to moral intuition. Part 2 is dedicated to a defense of the theory laid out in part one, often by addressing specific objections to libertarianism. Part 3 explores the application of libertarian thought to common social issues.

Everything is meticulously plotted and well-argued, but the pace and flow of Narveson's argument often suffer from frequent considerations of the various objections to libertarian theory. Perhaps this is a downside of (political) philosophy in general, since a thinker must always defend his ideas against challengers. Yet at times, Narveson devotes pages to quoting at length from critical works. The content remains strong, but the many stops and starts make for a less than straightforward read. Read Nozick first, and continue to Narveson if you want to explore the subject further.

[Arturo Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filosofía analítica pura y dura. La exposición es bastante sistemática, pero hay que dedicarle mucho tiempo a la lectura. Una cosa curiosa es que el autor está dispuesto a hacerle algunas concesiones importantes a los detractores del liberalismo libertario. Por ejemplo, él admite que el sistema de seguridad social de Canadá es una institución pública que beneficia a la sociedad y que no entra en conflicto con ningún principio básico del liberalismo.

[Jennifer]

Philosophy

[Craig Bolton]

The Libertarian Idea by Jan Narveson (2001)