Ethical basis of libertarianism
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This article is part of the Basic Course on Libertarianism and the Austrian School of Economics-> Module 2: Libertarianism and its ethical foundations
Ethical basis of libertarianism
To understand this page you must first read the previous page of the course → Liberal Ethical Currents.
Libertarianism has its main ethical sources in Natural Law (IusNaturalism) (especially in Locke) and in Kant (its modern improvement), with a secondary but important influence from utilitarianism.
That is, if your base is natural-law + Kant and then utilitarian, you are on solid ground; you can consider yourself libertarian/liberal. What is the percentage of each? Well, that depends on each person’s decision.
In the writer’s judgment, the percentages could be as follows:
If you are a believer
| Thinker/Current | Percentage | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Kant | Around 40% | In the current world context where the crisis is mainly moral, we must not deviate from the criterion of the good, under any motive |
| Natural Law | Around 40% | To know what ideas we are defending |
| Utilitarianism | Around 20% | Pragmatism for putting the ideas into practice; in this case the excluded minorities must also be analyzed by the previous criteria |
If you are NOT a believer
| Thinker/Current | Percentage | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Kant | 40% | In the current world context where the crisis is mainly moral, we must not deviate from the criterion of the good, under any motive |
| Natural Law | 30% | To know what ideas we are defending |
| Camus’s Existentialism | 20% | For his solidary rebellion in the face of the Absurd |
| Utilitarianism | 10% | Pragmatism for putting the ideas into practice; in this case the excluded minorities must also be analyzed by the previous criteria |
This article is part of the Basic Course on Libertarianism and the Austrian School of Economics-> Module 2: Libertarianism and its ethical foundations
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|---|---|---|
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Last updated: 2025-11-10
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