Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

The End of Western Culture

Preamble

Libertarian theory is focused on answering the question: when is aggression justified? The foundation of libertarian theory is the non-aggression principle: aggression is justified only in self-defense. This foundation leads to several corollaries; most fundamental is the absolute right to private property.

Libertarians will be the first to suggest that libertarian theory does not answer every question in life; it does not offer a complete philosophical or moral framework for man to live as an individual, to live with his fellow man, most importantly to develop a thriving community.

I have struggled in thinking through these additional necessities – more specifically, I have struggled through what is and isn’t derivable from libertarian thought; call these necessities “thick” – not for the purposes of turning libertarian theory into an unrecognizable bloated mess, but for the purpose of thinking about what is necessary to develop a thriving community – one able to sustain and enhance life, as opposed to one withering away in a slow death.

“Thick” can be called by another, better known term: call it culture.

More

No comments: