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Eric Mack joins our show again to talk about common objections to libertarianism by dissecting John Rawls viewpoint.
Eric Mack joins our show again to talk about common objections to libertarianism by dissecting John Rawls view of libertarianism. Many people have reservations about libertarianism because they see it as lacking compassion, but in the long-run people who are on the lowest rung of society do better in a free market system. Some others argue that there isn’t enough substance to libertarianism to live your life in that way, but Eric Mack consistently challenges that point of view throughout the episode.
What are the objections to libertarianism? Why was John Rawls not a libertarian? What is the “difference principle”? Does free market economics raise the standard of living? How would libertarians help the ‘worst-off’? Are libertarians lacking compassion? What is a just society?
Libertarianism (Key Concepts in Political Theory), written by Eric Mack
Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick
Arguments for Liberty, edited by Aaron Ross Powell and Grant Babcock
A Rawlsian Case for Libertarianism, written by Kevin Vallier
Arguments for Liberty: Rawlsianism, Free Thoughts Podcast
The Intellectual Tradition of Libertarianism (with Eric Mack), Free Thoughts Podcast
Eric Mack is professor emeritus of philosophy at Tulane University. He has authored numerous articles on political philosophy and books on John Locke and libertarianism.
Aaron Powell founded Libertarianism.org. He is now the host of (Re)Imagining Liberty, a podcast about the case for radical freedom.
Trevor Burrus was a research fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor-in-chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. His research interests include constitutional law, civil and criminal law, legal and political philosophy, legal history, and the interface between science and public policy.
He is the editor of A Conspiracy against Obamacare (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and Deep Commitments: The Past, Present, and Future of Religious Liberty (Cato, 2017). Burrus holds a BA in philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a JD from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He also contributed a chapter to Libertarianism.org’s Visions of Liberty.