https://wiki.sarg.dev/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2600%3A1700%3AD00%3A2FC0%3AF9EC%3A4FDE%3A959A%3A27FDVero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]2026-06-07T13:32:03ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.44.2https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Libertarian_theories_of_law&diff=191668Libertarian theories of law2024-08-26T22:47:03Z<p>2600:1700:D00:2FC0:F9EC:4FDE:959A:27FD: /* Notable theorists */ updated book title and added link</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Short description|Aspect of jurisprudence}}<br />
{{multiple issues|<br />
{{more citations needed|date=May 2008}}<br />
{{globalize|section|USA|date=February 2019}}<br />
}}<br />
{{Libertarianism US|issues}}<br />
'''Libertarian theories of law''' build upon [[History of liberalism#Classical liberalism|classical liberal]] and [[Individualism|individualist]] doctrines.<br />
<br />
The defining characteristics of [[libertarianism|libertarian legal theory]] are its insistence that the amount of governmental intervention should be kept to a minimum and the primary functions of law should be enforcement of contracts and social order, though social order is often seen as a desirable side effect of a [[free market]] rather than a philosophical necessity.<br />
<br />
Historically, the Austrian economist [[Friedrich Hayek]] is the most important libertarian legal theorist.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} Another important predecessor was [[Lysander Spooner]], a 19th-century American [[Individualist anarchism|individualist anarchist]] and lawyer. [[John Locke]] was also an influence on libertarian legal theory (see ''[[Two Treatises of Government]])''.<br />
<br />
Ideas range from [[anarcho-capitalism]] to a [[Minarchism|minimal state]] providing physical protection and enforcement of contracts. Some advocate regulation, including the existence of a police force, military, public land and public infrastructure. [[Geolibertarianism|Geolibertarians]] oppose absolute ownership of land on [[Georgism|Georgist]] grounds.<br />
<br />
== Notable theorists ==<br />
Authors discussing libertarian legal theory include:<br />
* [[Randy Barnett]] (''[[The Structure of Liberty]]'')<br />
* [[Frédéric Bastiat]] (''[[The Law (Bastiat book)|The Law]]'')<br />
* [[Bruce L. Benson]] (''[[The Enterprise of Law: Justice Without the State]]'')<br />
* [[Frank van Dun]] (The Fundamental Principle of Law)<br />
* [[Richard Allen Epstein|Richard Epstein]] (''[[Skepticism and Freedom]]'')<br />
* [[David D. Friedman|David Friedman]] (''[[The Machinery of Freedom]]'')<br />
* [[Friedrich Hayek]] (''[[Law, Legislation and Liberty]]'')<br />
* [[Gene Healy]]<br />
* [[Hans Hermann Hoppe]] (''[[The Economics and Ethics of Private Property]]'')<br />
* [[Stephan Kinsella]] (''[https://www.stephankinsella.com/lffs/ Legal Foundations of a Free Society]'')<br />
* [[Bruno Leoni]] (''[[Freedom and the Law]]'')<br />
* [[Robert P. Murphy]] (''[[Chaos Theory (book)|Chaos Theory]]'')<br />
* [[Andrew Napolitano]]<br />
* [[Robert Nozick]] (''[[Anarchy, State, and Utopia]]'')<br />
* [[Roger Pilon]]<br />
* [[Ayn Rand]] (''[[Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal]]'')<br />
* [[Murray Rothbard]] (''[[The Ethics of Liberty]]'')<br />
* [[Bernard Siegan]] (''Economic Liberties and the Constitution'')<br />
* [[Lysander Spooner]] (''[[The Unconstitutionality of Slavery]]'')<br />
* [[Linda and Morris Tannehill]] (''[[The Market for Liberty]]'')<br />
<br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
{{portal|Law|Libertarianism|Politics}}<br />
* [[Constitutional economics]]<br />
* [[Equality before the law]]<br />
* {{slink|Hans-Hermann Hoppe#Argumentation ethics}}<br />
* [[Judicial activism]]<br />
* [[Law and economics]]<br />
* [[Outline of libertarianism]]<br />
* [[Philosophy of law]]<br />
* [[Polycentric law]]<br />
* [[Rule according to higher law]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
* Randy Barnett (1998). ''The Structure of Liberty: Justice and the Rule of Law''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|0-19-829324-0}}.<br />
* Richard Epstein (2003). ''Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-226-21304-8}}.<br />
* Friedrich Hayek (1981). ''Law, Legislation and Liberty: The Political Order of a Free People''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|0-415-09868-8}}, {{ISBN|0-226-32090-1}}.<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030623232712/http://www.randybarnett.com/SOL.htm "The Structure of Liberty"]<br />
* [http://lsolum.typepad.com/legal_theory_lexicon/2005/06/legal_theory_le.html "Legal Theory Lexicon: Libertarian Theories of Law"]<br />
<br />
{{jurisprudence}}<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libertarian Theories Of Law}}<br />
[[Category:Classical liberalism]]<br />
[[Category:Theories of law]]<br />
[[Category:Libertarian theory|Law]]</div>2600:1700:D00:2FC0:F9EC:4FDE:959A:27FD