Libertarians believe in sexual freedom, where consensual sex acts that pose no harm should not be prohibited by society or legislation.

One of the leaders of the Anti-Corn Law League, Richard Cobden is considered an example of a liberal thinker with considerable success in changing British policy.

Natural law theorists explain that all man-made law should derive from some universal law of nature, discovered either through divine inspiration or human reason.

Wealth is born from production and meeting the demands of the market. As such, liberty encourages wealth, while government over-regulation may destroy it.

Natural rights are the basic rights held by all individuals by merits of being human; i.e., those rights that exist pre-government and may not be violated.

Libertarians are skeptical of some approaches to psychiatry especially when it involves government or when patients are coerced into accepting treatment.

The Prohibition of alcohol, from 1919-1933, though intended to reduce alcohol consumption, merely made alcohol consumption more dangerous.

Subsidiarity is decentralized, bottom-up decision-making. Libertarians support decentralization that places the individual in charge of their own decisions.

Corruption in government is a widely discussed issue, as its impacts on government effectiveness impact democratic institutions and individual liberty.

The physiocrats were French laissez-faire economists in the late 18^th century who based their policies and writings on natural reason and science.

A notable early economist, Richard Cantillon is influential for his theories on the self-regulating market, entrepreneurship, and prices.

Retributive justice holds that punishment is the only way to achieve justice and properly disincentivize criminal behavior, but to explain why, opinions differ.

Freedom of thought includes the notion that religion and personal value systems should be unregulated, and that expressing all values must be permitted.

In this entry, Marueen Kelley explains some libertarian takes and positions on social issues in which children become the focus of discussion.

Stoicism was a philosophical movement in Ancient Greece and Rome based on rational self-discipline, virtue, and natural law as the basis for state authority.

Cosmopolitanism, or globalization, encourages the individual to act as a citizen of the world, not just of a closed nation-state or community.

The Ostroms founded the Bloomington School of Institutional Analysis at the University of Indiana, dedicated to self-governance and evaluating state institutions.

War is often costly both to the nation and to individual liberties. Most libertarians are skeptical of war or see it as a necessary evil.