Smith explores the indispensable role of value commitments in our quest for knowledge.

Smith discusses some common problems encountered by libertarians when they defend their political beliefs in arguments.

Smith discusses some elements of credibility and offers advice on how to engage in arguments.

Smith discusses the crucial role played by the inalienable right of self-ownership in the abolitionist crusade to abolish slavery.

Smith discusses the controversy over whether the U.S. Constitution is pro-slavery, as illustrated in the opposing views of two leading abolitionists: Wendell Phillips and Lysander Spooner.

Smith discusses the split in the American Anti-Slavery Society over voting, equal rights for women, and other causes.

Smith discusses the prevalence of violence against abolitionists during the 1830s, and how Wendell Phillips became an abolitionist. 

Smith discusses the arguments of Wendell Phillips that abolitionists should not vote or hold political office.

Smith continues his discussion of the arguments in Can Abolitionists Vote or Take Office under the United States Constitution?

Smith discusses some similarities between the anti-political abolitionists and contemporary voluntaryists. 

Smith discusses how William Lloyd Garrison and Wendell Phillips differed in their approaches to non-voting.

Smith concludes his discussion of the no-voting theory of Wendell Phillips by explaining Phillips’s attitude toward taxes and the limits of democracy.

Smith begins his explanation of why so many abolitionists joined the crusade for the legal prohibition of alcohol.

Smith continues his explanation of why so many abolitionists supported the compulsory prohibition of alcohol by linking them to the ideology of the Whig Party.

Smith discusses Gerrit Smith’s arguments for prohibition and the reply by Lysander Spooner, as published in a book by Dio Lewis, Prohibition: A Failure.

Smith discusses Lewis’s rare insights on Spooner’s personal life, and his libertarian case against prohibition.

Smith begins his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s libertarian classic, “Vices are not Crimes.”

Smith continues his discussion of Lysander Spooner’s objections to confusing vices with crimes.