Life, Love, and Liberty

Things are picking up steam again on Studies in Dialectical Libertarianism. Here’s the outline for the first part that I’ve recently begun writing.

1. The meaning of libertarianism–

A. Control of the individual over their lives.

B. By extension, control of collectives over their affairs.

2. Political level–

A. Political level is defined as when it’s appropriate to use force.

B. Answer being only in retaliation thus establishing non-aggression principle.

C. Definition of liberty following from principle centered around freedom from aggression.

D. Natural law and subsequently natural rights as justification for answer.

E. Logical end point of justification and non-aggression principle is anarchism.

3. Economic level–

A. Economic level is defined as trade in goods and services.

B. Completely free market in the sense of Sam Konkin’s quote that “The Market is the sum of all voluntary human action. If one acts non-coercively, one is part of the Market.”

C. Preferred conception of property rights to underlie the free market.

4. Cultural level–

A. Cultural level is defined as the dominant disposition towards what is and isn’t acceptable. Think of a continuum with extreme liberalism on one end and extreme conservativism the other.

B. Culture that supports individuals being their authentic selves (extremes noted).

C. Extreme cultural liberalism and tolerance being the most conducive to this.

D. Subsequent importance of genuine liberation for outcast groups such as drug users and sex workers.

Update: Compliments to Matt Jenny for inspiring a word change from coercion to aggression.

The beginnings of my preface, poke holes in it!

The libertarian ethos is sometimes criticized as being too atomistic with not enough emphasis on the non-political or economic aspects of human existence. Surely, there is a need to examine issues from other vantage points while still keeping in mind the above. There would be an appreciation of the wider context that questions can be placed in. In the process, connections among the elements making up this totality could be made. A dialectical method “stresses the necessity of context,the “totality” of systemic and dynamic connections among social problems…”1 and I’ll make use of it to consider important issues. The first part of this work defines my perception on the meaning of libertarianism according to several levels of generality. Introductory material of this kind serves as a prelude to a number of case studies. A fleshing out of these cases will provide the basis for the meat of the book. These studies will be followed by the final part that ties the connections between my own broad preferences together in dialectical fashion. Let me clarify that libertarianism is used to encompass both the left and right varieties in this text. In doing this, I am sidestepping the exclusive claim often made to the label libertarian by aficionados of the right and left variants alike. I operate on Roderick Long’s definition of libertarianism as “any political position that advocates a radical redistribution of power from the coercive state to voluntary associations of free individuals.”2. An attention to drawing from wherever I can, regardless of ideological label, is paid while still maintaining the commitment to a libertarian perspective.

Footnotes
1.Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Total Freedom: Towards A Dialectical Libertarianism, (Pennsylvania,2000), pg. 1
2.Roderick T. Long, “Toward A Libertarian Theory Of Class” Social Philosophy & Policy 15:2 (1998).

This will be revised and expanded over time.

I plan on having the first draft of a preface for the book up on the blog this weekend to garner critical feedback. It’s been tough to really sit down with a clear head to write because of college catch up but I’ve got some time now. I’ll also try to track down the journal that Kevin was kind enough to remind me of.

Thanks! I’m sure it’ll be a helpful read if I can locate it.

Preface-Why Dialectical Method And Defining-Overview Of Contents

1.The Meaning Of Libertarianism-Defining
A.Political Level
B.Cultural Level
C.Economic Level
2.The Interconnections-Case Studies
A.Gay Marriage
B.Children’s Rights
C.Property Ownership
3.Broad Preferences-Dialectical Fashion
A. Anti-statist Politics
B. Cultural Liberalism
C. Free Market Economics-Defined using the late Sam Konkin’s wording of “The Market is the sum of all voluntary human action. If one acts non-coercively, one is part of the Market.”1

Footnotes
1.Samuel Edward Konkin, New Libertarian Manfiesto Second Edition, (Koman Publishing,1983). Unauthorized edition available online at http://flag.blackened.net/daver/anarchism/nlm/nlm1.html Captured May 1st, 2006. Chapter 1

I’ve been putting together a list of materials I’ll need for research so I wanted to share it.

-The Ethics of Liberty by Murray Rothbard.

-Escape From Childhood: The Needs and Rights of Children by John Holt.

-Dialectics and Liberty Trilogy by Chris Matthew Sciabarra.

-Studies in Mutualist Political Economy by Kevin Carson.

-The Voice of Reason: Essays in Objectivist Thought by Ayn Rand with editing and additional essays by Leonard Peikoff.

-The work of Karl Hess.
-The Death of Politics

-In Praise of Decadence by Jeff Riggenbach.

-Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use by Jacob Sullum.

-The work of Alice Miller

The recent thinking I’ve done on issues from gay marriage to children’s rights has led me to see the major importance of culture and dialectical method. I’ve decided to explore this further with my first book titled Studies In Dialectical Libertarianism that will take some time to finish. I’ll examine the connections I see between cultural, political, and economic radicalism. It’s important to look at issues from multiple vantage points if we want to arrive at a libertarianism that will lead to a genuinely better society.

I want to thank Chris for helping me take another step in my intellectual evolution. It was our private correspodence and his work that provoked the thought that led to this idea. I’ll end this announcement with a quote from pg.383 of Total Freedom: Towards A Dialectical Libertarianism that gells with my book project.

“Just as relations of power operate through ethical, psychological, cultural, political, and economic dimensions, so too the struggle for freedom and individualism depends upon a certain constellation of moral, psychological, and cultural factors. By further articulating this radical constellation, Rand and her intellectual progeny move toward a dialectical libertarianism.

Thus, in a very real methodological convergence, virtually every major school of thought within late-twentieth-century and early-twenty-first-century libertarianism-from the neo-Aristotelian to the dialogical to the Austrian to the Randian-is moving toward a similiarly dialectical construction of its political project. But there is so much more work to be done.”

I plan on contributing to that unfinished work Chris speaks of.