Libertarian Island III: Coercion and Degrees of Freedom

Where we left off shipwrecked Ann, whom I have called a “left- libertarian,” has not been able to convince shipwrecked right-libertarian Bob that it’s only his wrongheaded ideology that makes him want to paddle away from Isle One, with its easier and more abundant life, towards Isle Two.

Libertarian Island II: Individual Rights

In this second installment of the adventures of shipwrecked Libertarian Bob and Left Libertarian Ann somewhere in the south seas.

The Moral Underpinnings of Democracy and its Degree-Affected Variant

Motivated by some ideas that percolated around in the New Left, this essay argues that the core justification of democracy is not that it maximizes utility (which it often does pretty well) or even that it recognizes equality of citizenship (which is essential to any just political order), but instead that it is the best projection into the sphere of social decision making of the values of individual autonomy and liberty. It follows that democracy keyed to the stake that each voter has in the outcome will sometimes realize democratic values more fully than does one citizen one vote.

Jefferson Davis and the Moral Right to Abolish Slavery

Here is a meditation on the question whether Lincoln was, or you would be, morally in the right in using unlawful force against the institution of chattel slavery.