Download Libertarianism

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Libertarianism is the idea that human beings are able to
exercise free will when making decisions, and nothing
is predetermined.
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Libertarianism is commonly associated with atheism,
but this is not always the case. Some Christians (E.g.
Erasmus) believe that humans are free to act as they
wish. However, they still believe that it is best for them
to worship and obey God.
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Reid’s philosophy was inspired by a soft-determinist writer named David
Hume, who wrote that, whilst human beings could exercise free will,
nature was ultimately in control of our lives.
Reid adapted this into his own theory named Common-Sense
Philosophy:
 He argued that humans have free will; whilst we may be affected/limited
by nature, this does not affect our ability to exercise free will.
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He also claimed that free will is subject-based- meaning we are free to
make a choice and we have the freedom to follow it through, even if we
experience limitations whilst doing so.
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This freedom means that humans are responsible for their actions.
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Smith is another libertarian. He was greatly inspired by the beliefs of
Thomas Reid.
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Smith is responsible for creating the capitalist economic theory. It was his
belief that humans have the power to choose one commodity over another,
and, relating to this, human progress involves the maximisation of choice.
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Smith also believed, however, that with free will comes responsibility- in
other words, as humans have free will, we are responsible for our actions.
But if someone is ordered to do something, e.g. buying a particular
commodity, then they are not responsible for our actions, as they were
acting for someone else.
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It could be argued that Smith popularised the concept of libertarianism.
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Hayek was the leading exponent of libertarianism, and a strong
supporter of capitalism.
This was down to his background, having spent his early life in what is
now Austria (formerly Austria-Hungary); after WW2, control over
Austria, like Germany, was divided among Britain, America, France and
the USSR, the latter of which enforced strict communist law in their
territory. It was Hayek’s view that the people in communist Sovietcontrolled territories were not free, and they suffered greatly as a result.
He believed that liberty and capitalism were the solutions to these
problems. People needed to be free from the constraints of state
control and political ideologies in order to develop and prosper.
 They must be free to choose and therefore responsible for themselves.
 He was also a proponent of liberal ideologies such as relativism (the
idea that there are no absolute values) and multiculturalism.
 But he also stated that humans should not use their freedom to harm
others.
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His ideology was particularly influential on Margaret Thatcher’s own
ideology.
Critics of libertarianism argue that free will does not automatically
create responsibility. Instead, humans will discard responsibility and
act out of selfishness alone. When humans are given the option to do
as they please, they will abuse that freedom to their own ends,
sometimes with terrible consequences.
 Common examples would be totalitarian dictators who give
themselves power to do anything, and have often caused a lot of
suffering for their own people.
 Aristotle was opposed to the concept of freedom. He argued that
having limitations kept humans as higher beings than animals, and
that, when a person has freedom, they will inevitably become savage
beasts.
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