Murray N. Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe build their libertarian theory of justice on two axioms concerning self-ownership and homesteading, which are bolstered by two key arguments: reductio ad absurdum and performative contradiction. Each of these arguments is designed to demonstrate that libertarianism is the only theory of justice that can be justified. If either of these arguments were valid, it would prove the libertarian claim that the state is an unjust political arrangement. Giving due weight to the importance of the libertarian anarchist claim, this article exposes and criticizes the arguments that substantiate it.
Aristotle (1993) Metaphysics. KirwanC (trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2.
Aristotle (1998) Politics. BarkerE (trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
ArnesonRJ (2003) Equality, coercion, culture and social norms. Politics, Philosophy and Economics2(2): 139–63.
4.
AttasD (2005) Liberty, Property and Markets: A Critique of Libertarianism. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
5.
BarryN (1989) Libertarianism. In: HuntGMK (ed.) Philosophy and Politics: Supplement to Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.109–29.
6.
BarryN (1995) Rothbard: Liberty, economy, and state. Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines (6)1: 105–19.
7.
BlockW (1996) Review of ‘The Economics and Ethics of Private Property’. Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines7(1): 161–5.
8.
BlockW (ed.) (2010) I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
9.
BlockW (2011) Rejoinder to Murphy and Callahan on Hoppe’s argumentation ethics. Journal of Libertarian Studies22(1): 631–9.
10.
CallahanG (2012) Liberty versus libertarianism. Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Epub ahead of print 5 February 2012. DOI: 10.1177/1470594X11433739.
11.
CallahanGMurphyR (2006) Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s argumentation ethics: A critique. Journal of Libertarian Studies20(2): 53–64.
12.
CaseyG (2009) Feser on Rothbard as a philosopher. Libertarian Papers1(34): 1–13.
13.
ChevignyPG (1980) Philosophy of language and free expression. New York University Law Review55: 157–94.
14.
CohenGA (1995) Self-Ownership, Freedom and Equality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
15.
EabrasuM (2009) A reply to the current critiques formulated against Hoppe’s argumentation ethics. Libertarian Papers1(20): 1–29.
16.
FosterWT (2007) Argumentation and Debating. Cambridge, MA: Read Books.
17.
FriedmanD (1988) The trouble with Hoppe. Liberty, November.
18.
FriedmanJ (1992) After libertarianism: Rejoinder to Narveson, MacCloskey, Flew, and Machan. Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society (6)1: 113–52.
19.
GodefridiD (2004) Faut-il supprimer l’Etat? Vertiges anarchistes d’une certaine pensée libérale. Le Banquet21(2): 1–15.
20.
GordonD (2006) The Hoppeian way. Mises Daily Article, 9 November. Available at: http://mises.org/story/2313(accessed 12 March 2012).
21.
GrunebaumJ (1997) Private Ownership. New York: Routledge.
22.
HabermasJ (1993) Justification and Application: Remarks on Discourse Ethics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
23.
HareRM (1993) Essays in Ethical Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24.
HasnasJ (2003) Reflections on the minimal state. Politics, Philosophy and Economics2(1): 115–28.
25.
HaworthA (1994) Anti-Libertarianism: Markets, Philosophy, and Myth. New York: Routledge.
26.
HeathTL (2006 [1921]) A History of Greek Mathematics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
27.
HoppeH-H (1989) A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism. Boston, MA: Kluwer.
28.
HoppeH-H (1998 [1982]) Introduction. In: RothbardMN (ed.) The Ethics of Liberty. New York: New York University Press, pp.xi–xlv.
29.
HoppeH-H (1999) The private production of defense. Journal of Libertarian Studies14(1): 27–52.
30.
HoppeH-H (2001) Democracy: The God that Failed. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
31.
HoppeH-H (2006 [1993]) The Economics and Ethics of Private Property: Studies in Political Economy and Philosophy. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
32.
HornW (1984) Libertarianism and private property in land. American Journal of Economics and Sociology43(3): 341–56.
33.
HospersJ (1982) Rothbard’s liberty reviewed. The Freeman32(8): 468–85.
34.
HülsmannGKinsellaS (eds) (2009) Property, Freedom and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
35.
HumeD (1952 [1740]) A Treatise of Human Nature. London: JM Dent & Sons.
36.
KantI (1991 [1797]) The Metaphysics of Morals. GregorM (trans.). New York: Cambridge University Press.
37.
KantI (1996 [1781]) Critique of Pure Reason. PluharWS (trans.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
KorsgaardK (2004) Fellow creatures: Kantian ethics and our duties to animals. In: PetersonG (ed.) The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, Vols 25/26. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, pp.77–110.
41.
KukathasC (2009) Two constructions of libertarianism. Libertarian Papers1(11): 1–13.
42.
KyriaziH (2004) Reckoning with Rothbard. American Journal of Economics and Sociology63(2): 451–84.
43.
LockeJ (1980 [1689]) Second Treatise of Government. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
44.
LomaskyL (1989) The argument from mere argument. Liberty, September.
45.
MackE (2002a) Self-ownership, Marxism, and egalitarianism: Part I: Challenges to historical entitlement. Politics, Philosophy and Economics1(1): 75–108.
46.
MackE (2002b) Self-ownership, Marxism, and egalitarianism: Part II: Challenges to the self-ownership thesis. Politics, Philosophy and Economics1(2): 237–76.
47.
MackieJL (1964) Self-refutation: A formal analysis. Philosophical Quarterly14: 193–203.
48.
MartinichA (2005) Philosophical Writing: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
49.
MengJCS (2002) Hopp(e)ing onto new ground: A Rothbardian proposal for Thomistic natural law as the basis for Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s praxeological defense of private property. Working paper. Available at: http://www.mises.org/journals/scholar/meng.pdf(accessed 12 March 2012).
50.
NozickR (1974) Anarchy, State and Utopia. New York: Basic Books.
51.
OsterfeldD (1977) Reflections on the substantive and epistemological aspects of the Rothbardian natural rights ethic. In: 5th Libertarian scholars conference, Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 21–23 October 1977.
52.
OsterfeldD (1983) The natural rights debate: A comment on a reply. Journal of Libertarian Studies7(1): 101–13.
53.
OsterfeldD (1988) Comment on Hoppe. Austrian Economics Newsletter9(3).
54.
OtsukaM (2003) Libertarianism Without Inequality. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
55.
Plato (1998) Parmenides. In: AllenRE (trans.) The Dialogues of Plato, Volume 4. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
56.
Plato (2006) The Republic. AllenRE (trans.). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
57.
PopV (2009) Who Owns the Moon? Extraterrestrial Aspects of Land and Mineral Resources Ownership. New York: Springer-Verlag.
58.
RasmussenD (1980) A groundwork for rights: Man’s natural end. Journal of Libertarian Studies (4)1: 65–76.
59.
RichmanS (1988) Comment on Osterfeld. Austrian Economics Newsletter9(3).
60.
RisseM (2004) Does left-libertarianism have coherent foundations?Politics, Philosophy and Economics3(3): 337–64.
61.
RossW (1930) The Right and the Good. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
62.
RothbardMN (1988) Beyond is and ought. Liberty, November.
63.
RothbardMN (1990) Hoppephobia. Liberty, March.
64.
RothbardMN (1996 [1973]) For a New Liberty. San Francisco, CA: Fox and Wilkes.
65.
RothbardMN (1998 [1982]) The Ethics of Liberty. New York: New York University Press.
66.
RothbardMN (2009 [1970]) Man, Economy and State with Power and Market. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
67.
SteeleDR (1988) One muddle after another. Liberty, November.
68.
StrawsonPF (1952) Introduction to Logical Theory. London: Methuen.
69.
SylvanR (2007) Anarchism. In: GoodinREPettitPPoggeT (eds) A Companion to Contemporary Political Philosophy, 2nd edn., Vol. I. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 257–81.
70.
TerrellT (2000) The origin of property rights: A critique of Rothbard and Hoppe on natural rights. Faith and Economics36: 1–9.
71.
VallentyneP (2007) Libertarianism and the state. Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation24: 187–205.
72.
VallentynePSteinerH (eds) (2004) Left-Libertarianism and its Critics: The Contemporary Debate. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
73.
Van DunF (2009) Argumentation ethics and the philosophy of freedom. Libertarian Papers1(19): 1–32.
74.
WalzerM (1984) Spheres of Justice: A Defence of Pluralism and Equality. New York: Basic Books.
75.
WiderquistKA (2008) Libertarianism. In: O’HaraP (ed.) International Encyclopaedia of Public Policy: Governance in a Global Age, Vol. 3. Perth: GPERU, pp.338–51.
76.
WiderquistKA (2009) Dilemma for libertarianism. Politics, Philosophy and Economics (8)1: 43–72.
77.
WiderquistKA (2010) Lockean theories of property: Justifications for unilateral appropriation. Public Reason (2)1: 3–26.
