Escape From Leviathan: Liberty, Welfare, and Anarchy Reconciled

259 Pages·2000·9.13 MB·English

by  J.C. Lester

Escape from Leviathan
Liberty, Welfare and Anarchy Reconciled
J.C. Lester
Escape from Leviathan
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Escape from Leviathan
Liberty, Welfare and Anarchy Reconciled
J. C. Lester
AA
£8 First published in Great Britain 2000 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-77756-5
M First published in the United States of America 2000 by
ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, LLC,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-23416-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lester, J. C.
Escape from leviathan : liberty, welfare, and anarchy reconciled / J.C. Lester.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 0-312-23416-3
1. Liberty. 2. Libertarianism. 3. Welfare economics. I. Title.
JC585 .L37 2000
320,.01,l-dc21
00-025475
© J. C. Lester 2000
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written
permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright
Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained
forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
To my parents
Nothing in the state,
everything against the state,
everything outside the state.1
1 This reverses Benito Mussolini's definition of fascism (as quoted in The
Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Political Thought's entry on 'fascism' [Miller
1987, 150]). Anarcho-libertarianism, or private-property anarchism, is the
opposite of fascism.
Contents
Preface and acknowledgements x
1. Introduction 1
1.1. The Classical-Liberal Compatibility Thesis 1
1.2. Why Moral Advocacy is Avoided 3
1.3. A Critical-Rationalist Apologia 5
2. Rationality 11
2.0. Chapter Thesis 11
2.1. Why Defend Aprioristic Instrumental Rationality? 11
2.2. The Self and Its Interests 17
a. Formal Definitions 17
b. Freewill and Persons 19
c. Weakness of Will or Meta-Desire? 24
d. Desires versus Values? 27
2.3. Self-Interest and Altruism 35
a. The Logic of Altruism 36
b. The Intentional Structure of Moral Sentiments 39
c. Commitment, Motive-Stimuli, and Vacuousness 41
2.4. Utility 47
2.5. Utility-Maximization 49
a. The Commensurability of One's
Want-Satisfactions 49
b. The Utility-Maximization of Categorical Morals 51
2.6. Economic Demand 54
vn
Contents
57
3.0. Chapter Thesis 57
3.1. Capturing the Conception 58
3.2. Four Fundamental Criticisms of Minimizing
Imposed Cost 62
a. Libertarian Genocide? 62
b. Impractically Unclear and Moralized? 63
c. Mob Rule? 64
i. A Typhoid Carrier 65
ii. A Critic of Religion 66
iii. Libertarian Utility Monsters? 69
d. The Possibility of a Paretian Liberal 70
3.3. Libertarians on 'Coercion' and 'Liberty' 71
3.4. Observing Liberty in a State of Nature 75
a. Self-Ownership and Property Derived
Non-Morally 76
b. Honesty, Promises, and Contracts 80
c. Rectifying Libertarian Clashes 85
d. Newcomers and Future Generations 89
e. Intellectual Property 95
i. A General Defense 95
ii. Some Criticisms from Libertarians 99
3.5. More Philosophical Problems 105
a. Exclusive Land Acquisition 105
b. Restitution, Retribution, and Evidence 108
i. 'Torts' and 'Crimes' 109
ii. Can Wealth Levels Distort Rectification?^ 113
iii. Risk-Multiplier Rectification 115
c. Consequentialism and Economics 120
3.6. Refutations of Illiberalism 123
a. Conflationists and the Libertarian Principle 124
b. The Free-Slave Paradox 129
c. Ownership by Mere Reliance on Natural
Resources 133
d. Critical Rationalism and Libertarianism 135
e. After Illiberalism and Justificationism 142
Contents IX
4. Welfare 149
4.0. Chapter Thesis 149
4.1. Welfare, Liberty, and the Market Overviewed 150
4.2. Interpersonal Utility Comparisons 152
4.3. Clarifying Want-Satisfaction 155
4.4. More Criticisms of Want-Satisfaction 161
a. Informational Constraints and Utility 161
b. 'Social Justice' versus Utility 165
4.5. Some Practical and Economic Implications 169
a. Discrimination and Equality 169
b. Preference Autonomy and Free Personal Choice 174
4.6. Want-Satisfaction and Libertarian Property Rights 178
a. Private Risks versus Welfare? 179
b. The Immediate Effects of Equality 182
c. Utility versus Individual Rights? 185
5. Anarchy 193
5.0. Chapter Thesis 193
5.1. The State, Law, and Market-Anarchy 194
5.2. The Prejudice against Anarchy 198
Notes 205
Bibliography 228
Index 240