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From: mck@ratex.UUCP (Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.philosophy
Subject: Vulgar Libertarians
Message-ID: <754@cbosgd.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 18-Jan-85 17:50:14 EST
Article-I.D.: cbosgd.754
Posted: Fri Jan 18 17:50:14 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 19-Jan-85 04:18:53 EST
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Xref: watmath net.politics:6956 net.philosophy:1366


This is a re-posting; the original vanished mysteriously.

"Lord, protect me from my friends; my enemies I can take care of myself."
                                        Voltaire

     I am appalled by what some of the alleged Libertarians on the net are
saying.
     Let's get one thing clear:
          Libertarianism is a POLITICAL philosophy; nothing more.
It is NOT a general theory of ethics, meta-ethics, epistemology, or ontology.
For example: IT IS NOT A THEORY OF ETHICAL RELATIVISM!!!  Some Libertarians are
Relativists; some (in fact: MOST) are not.  Libertarianism, PER SE, has little
to say on the matter.
     It is galling to me to see people preaching Relativism and calling it
Libertarianism for two reasons:
       1) I am a Libertarian; and I am not a Relativist.
       2) As any half-assed philosopher realized before he reached puberty, the
          logical conclusion of Relativism is Nihilism.  I'll be damned if I'll
          sit quietly as some one attempts to erect an edifice that I care so
          much about on a foundation of rotten wood!
     I have other complaints about those who we may call "vulgar Libertarians",
but I always feel like Sisyphus when writing to net.politics or net.philosophy.

                                        Disgusted again,
                                        Daniel Kian Mc Kiernan