{"id":83922,"date":"2022-11-19T08:40:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T12:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=83922"},"modified":"2022-11-23T14:42:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T18:42:54","slug":"libertarianism-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is libertarianism in philosophy? Is there a safe limit to how much freedom individuals may have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Libertarianism states that the goal of the state is to maximize personal freedom. This goal comes from the libertarian belief that people own themselves. That said, libertarians do recognize that it\u2019s the government\u2019s role to<strong> <\/strong>prevent people from limiting the freedom of others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to learn about the key tenets of libertarian philosophy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-libertarianism\"><strong>What Is Libertarianism? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In political philosophy, libertarianism emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Personal freedom: People have the freedom to direct and impact their own lives however they see fit. <\/strong>This is essentially the same as being free to use your property however you like\u2014since you own yourself, you can \u201cuse\u201d yourself to live however you like.<\/li><li><strong>Economic freedom: People own their labor and whatever it creates. <\/strong>For example, if you own a lemon tree, you also own the lemons that it grows. Similarly, since you own yourself, you also own whatever <em>you<\/em> do and create.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>(Shortform note: For many libertarians, personhood and economic structures are inseparable. To understand what this means, let\u2019s look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.libertarianism.org\/columns\/money-is-speech-corporations-are-people-progressivism-is-dud\">the common libertarian claim that \u201ccorporations are people.\u201d<\/a> Many libertarians interpret <em>all<\/em> rights as derivative of property rights\u2014even our personal freedoms stem from the idea that an individual has a right to own <em>themselves<\/em> as property. Therefore, since corporations are also collections of property (money, land, businesses, and so on), libertarians believe that these organizations have the right to act as they please, just like an individual\u2014and that limiting their ability to do so is infringing on people\u2019s property rights and therefore their freedoms.)&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sandel further outlines these two forms of freedom, as well as how they influence political questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-personal-freedom\"><strong>Personal Freedom<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sandel explains that to protect <em>personal<\/em> freedom, libertarians oppose two main kinds of laws:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1) Safety laws:<\/strong> Since everyone owns themselves, they have a right to take personal risks if they so choose. Libertarians argue that safety laws limit this freedom and are therefore unethical. Examples of these laws include the criminalization of potentially dangerous substances like heroin as well as more mundane rules like speed limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>2) Moral laws: <\/strong>Since everyone owns themselves, they have a right to live according to their own moral code. Therefore, libertarians believe that laws enforcing one specific moral code are unethical. For example, libertarians object to laws against homosexuality or abortion\u2014they believe people have a right to anti-gay or anti-abortion moral beliefs, but that it\u2019s unethical to limit the freedom of those who hold different views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-economic-freedom\"><strong>Economic Freedom<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sandel says that to preserve personal ownership of labor and whatever it creates, libertarians also oppose most economic regulation. In particular, they argue against wealth redistribution\u2014anything from higher taxes on the rich to a government-mandated minimum wage. Libertarians argue that wealth redistribution is essentially theft: the government forcibly taking money that people have a right to. Some even argue that wealth redistribution is the same as forced labor, since it involves the government <em>forcefully<\/em> taking the result of someone\u2019s <em>labor.<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is libertarianism in philosophy? Is there a safe limit to how much freedom individuals may have? Libertarianism states that the goal of the state is to maximize personal freedom. This goal comes from the libertarian belief that people own themselves. That said, libertarians do recognize that it\u2019s the government\u2019s role to prevent people from limiting the freedom of others. Keep reading to learn about the key tenets of libertarian philosophy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24],"tags":[804],"class_list":["post-83922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","category-society","tag-justice","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\"},\"wordCount\":526,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Justice\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Philosophy\",\"Society\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\",\"name\":\"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\",\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png\",\"caption\":\"Darya Sinusoid\"},\"description\":\"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained - Shortform Books","description":"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained","og_description":"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Darya Sinusoid","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Darya Sinusoid","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/"},"author":{"name":"Darya Sinusoid","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46"},"headline":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained","datePublished":"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/"},"wordCount":526,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","keywords":["Justice"],"articleSection":["Philosophy","Society"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/","name":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","datePublished":"2022-11-19T12:40:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-11-23T18:42:54+00:00","description":"Libertarianism is a political philosophy that emphasizes freedom above all else. Specifically, libertarians argue for two kinds of freedom.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","width":1200,"height":630},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/libertarianism-philosophy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Maximizing Freedom: Libertarianism Philosophy Explained"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World&#039;s Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46","name":"Darya Sinusoid","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Untitled-design-1.png","caption":"Darya Sinusoid"},"description":"Darya\u2019s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain\/mind\/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/darya\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/freedom-graffito-wall.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83922"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84806,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83922\/revisions\/84806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}