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From: stewart@ihldt.UUCP (R. J. Stewart)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Libertarianism & freedom
Message-ID: <2687@ihldt.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-Jan-85 11:38:04 EST
Article-I.D.: ihldt.2687
Posted: Tue Jan 15 11:38:04 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 05:06:49 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 44

>>     There are about as many views of "right" and "wrong" as there are
>>     people in the world.  None of these can be shown to be better, in
>>     any objective way, than any other.
>>
>> Given that this is true, libertarians then reason that it is wrong for
>> one person, or a group of persons with similar views, to force their
>> (rather arbitrary) set of values on other people.

> Benito Mussolini drew some very different conclusions
> from that relativistic axiom:
>
>	...  From the fact that all ideologies are of equal value, that all
>	ideologies are mere fictions, the modern relativist infers that
>	everybody has the right to create for himself his own
>	ideology and to attempt to enforce it with all the energy
>	of which he is capable.

Certainly the free-for-all approach is consistent with the relativistic
axiom.  In fact, I claim that this precisely describes most of human
history!  All that is consistent is not moral, however, and this is
where libertarians part ways with Mussolini.

The proponent of the free-for-all approach is in the dubious position of
claiming that:

 - No philosophy has special significance.
 - Nevertheless, MY philosophy SHOULD have special significance.

I suppose that if you are a true nihilist, this sort of reasoning
wouldn't bother you much.  To a libertarian, however, the relativistic
axiom suggests a principle, that goes something like:

   Since my philosophy has no special significance, I should not do
   things to promote it that I would not want other people to do in
   promoting *their* philosophy.

I alluded to this principle in my original posting, but I probably
should have been more explicit.  I find that almost everyone believes in
this principle when they are having a philosophy forced upon them, but
that most people don't have the integrity to stand by it when they are
applying the force.

Bob Stewart
ihldt!stewart