March, 2007

What Was Wrong With Socialism?

by Virginia Postrel

March 28th, 2007

Reflecting on our exchanges, I’m struck by the lingering division over what was wrong with socialism, and with socialists. Libertarians agree that socialism was wrong. We disagree on exactly why. So in part what we’ve been calling a division between the empiricist and deductivist strands of libertarianism also reflects different diagnoses of the nature of [...]

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Principles, the Welfare State, and Libertarian Cultural Traditions

by Virginia Postrel

March 28th, 2007

Like Tom Palmer, I am “not a pure instrumentalist. I think that being free is a constituent part of a happy life, which is something desirable for its own sake and not for the sake of something else.” Unlike Tom, I’m not a philosopher, so perhaps my language suggested baggage I did not mean to [...]

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Quick Hits

by Tyler Cowen

March 27th, 2007

Many issues have been raised, let me offer a few comments:
1. In response to Tom, I am a pluralist and I also value (libertarian) freedom for its own sake. But in most settings I value “positive freedom,” or capabilities, a good deal more. Positive freedom or positive liberty are common philosophical concepts, and [...]

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