Origins of libertarianism

Last updated: 2026-05-04

This article is part of the Basic Course on Libertarianism and the Austrian School of Economics-> Module 2: Libertarianism and its ethical foundations

The proto origin: The “Judeo-Christian Bible”

Although it may seem astonishing, the ancestral origin of libertarianism is in the “Judeo-Christian Bible” .

If we return to the definition of libertarianism given by Benegas Lynch: Libertarianism is the unrestricted respect for the life project of others, based on the “non-aggression principle,” the right to life, liberty, and private property. We see that some commandments such as (“Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” “Thou shalt not bear false witness nor lie,” “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods”) are directly associated with libertarian principles:

Thou shalt not steal and Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s goods is associated with private property
Thou shalt not kill is associated with the right to life

Aristotle

Teleology and Human Action

Teleological (from the Greek télos = end, purpose, goal + lógos = study or reason) means that which is explained or oriented in terms of an end, a purpose, or a final cause.

Aristotelian philosophy is deeply teleological (with an end): it holds that nature does nothing in vain and that every being acts oriented toward an end (telos), the ultimate end of the human being being the search for eudaimonia (fullness or flourishing through the exercise of reason and virtue).

This causal, purpose-oriented vision reached the Austrian School of Economics. Ludwig von Mises based his Praxeology (human action) on the foundation that the human being is a conscious actor who uses scarce means to reach subjective ends.

The Defense of Private Property

In his work Politics, Aristotle became the first great historical critic of communism and state collectivism.

Faced with the Platonic proposal to abolish the family and property in favor of common state management, Aristotle argued categorically that private property is indispensable for peace and social cooperation.

As Aristotle wrote, “what is common to the greatest number of people receives the least care,” since men care more for what is their own than for what is another’s. He also pointed out that private property is the only material support that allows the practice of genuine virtues such as generosity and philanthropy (liberality).

This reasoning anticipates the uncompromising defense of the free market and private property against central planning that centuries later Mises and Hayek would structure.

Theological Natural Law

The commandments (plus other parts of the Judeo-Christian Bible) are part of what later several Christian philosophers and theologians such as (Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo) would use to ground their theological natural-law approach (which is part of the foundation of Libertarianism as explained in Ethical basis of Libertarianism)

The School of Salamanca (16th–17th centuries, Spain)

The School of Salamanca is considered one of the precursors of libertarianism because it anticipated central ideas of modern liberal thought with 300 years of advance. It was an intellectual and theological movement born at the University of Salamanca (Spain). Its members were mainly scholastic philosophers, theologians, and jurists, heirs of Saint Thomas Aquinas, but with a more humanist, rational, and proto-liberal vision.

Its main representatives were:

Francisco de Vitoria (founder) (1483–1546)
Domingo de Soto (1494–1560)
Martín de Azpilcueta (Doctor Navarrus) (1493–1586)
Luis de Molina (1535–1600)
Juan de Mariana (1536–1624)
Francisco Suárez (1548–1617)

Ideas that make them precursors of libertarianism

Modern liberal idea	Salamanca’s contribution	Example / Quote
Natural rights of the individual	They defended that every human being has innate rights (life, liberty, property) by being rational, not by grant of the king.	Vitoria: “The Indians have dominion over their lands because they are free men.” → Basis of international law.
Private property	They justified property as a natural right, not given by the State.	Molina: “Property is prior to the State.”
Free market and just price	Subjective theory of value: the just price is not set by the king, but by supply/demand and perceived utility.	De Soto: “The just price is that which is formed in the common market, without fraud.” → 300 years before the Austrians!
Free trade	They defended international trade without royal monopolies.	Suárez: “Trade is natural among peoples.”
Critique of state interventionism	Juan de Mariana: the king cannot raise taxes without consent → origin of “no taxation without representation.”	Mariana (De Rege, 1599): “Imposing tributes without consent is tyranny.”
Anti-monopoly and anti-inflation	They criticized monetary debasement (inflating the currency) as theft from the people.	Mariana: “Altering the currency is stealing from the poor.” → Critique of the central bank 400 years early!
Right of resistance	If the king violates natural rights, the people may resist or even overthrow him.	Suárez: “Political power comes from the people, not from God directly.” → Basis of the social contract.

Classical libertarianism

How Salamanca’s ideas reached classical liberal thinkers

Locke read Suárez.
Adam Smith cites similar just-price concepts.
Mises and Hayek rediscover the subjective theory of value… which was already in Salamanca!

SCHOOL OF SALAMANCA → PRECURSOR OF LIBERALISM
──────────────────────────────────────────────
1. Natural rights (Vitoria, Suárez) → Locke
2. Property prior to the State (Molina) → Mises
3. Just price = supply/demand (De Soto) → Menger
4. Global free trade (Suárez) → Smith
5. No taxes without consent (Mariana) → American Revolution
6. Inflation = theft (Mariana) → Austrian School
7. Resistance to the tyrant (Suárez) → Revolutionary libertarianism

Salamanca is not “liberal” (they were friars), but their ideas ARE the seed of economic and political libertarianism.

The summary of connections is:

Judeo-Christian Bible
        ↓
Aristotle
        ↓
Christian Natural Law (Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo)        
        ↓
School of Salamanca (1500-1600) (ideas via Jesuits and trade)
        ↓
Locke + Smith + Bastiat + Others (1700-1800)
        ↓
Austrian School (1871+)       
        ↓
Libertarianism → Libertarianism (1900+)

1. Classical Libertarianism (17th and 18th Centuries)

This is the main philosophical foundation. Modern libertarian thought is often seen as the most radical heir of classical libertarianism.

John Locke (17th Century): He is fundamental. His philosophy of Natural Right and the idea that individuals have rights preexisting the State (life, liberty, and property) is one of the pillars of libertarian ethics. It is worth recalling that Locke based his ideas on Francisco Suárez of the School of Salamanca.
The Levellers (England, 17th Century): They fostered the first ideas of popular sovereignty, religious toleration, and equality of rights before the law.
The Enlightenment and the Atlantic Revolutions: Figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine popularized the ideas of limited government, consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights, which are essential to the libertarian spirit.
Classical Economists: Thinkers such as Adam Smith and Frédéric Bastiat (with his radical defense of laissez-faire and his critique of law as an instrument of plunder) provided the foundations of the defense of the free market.

2. Individualist Anarchism (19th Century)

While classical libertarianism advocated a limited state, another current explored the total abolition of the state.

Lysander Spooner and Benjamin Tucker (American Individualist Anarchists): They defended the total sovereignty of the individual and the private provision of security and justice services, laying the foundations of future anarcho-capitalism.
Henry David Thoreau: With his essay Civil Disobedience (1849), he promoted a radical critique of state authority and a defense of individual conscience.

Origins of the Modern Movement (20th Century)

Libertarianism as a political movement and specific label (separate from social-democratic or progressive libertarianism) consolidated in the postwar period, mainly in the United States, as a reaction to:

The New Deal and the Welfare State: Seen as an excessive growth of governmental power and spending.
The Cold War: The need to oppose Soviet collectivism.

Key 20th-Century Thinkers

The Austrian School of Economics:
- Ludwig von Mises and his critique of socialism and defense of the free market as the only rational way to organize the economy.
- F. A. Hayek and his focus on dispersed knowledge and critique of centralized planning (The Road to Serfdom).
Political Philosophy and Anarcho-capitalism:
- Ayn Rand: Although she did not identify as a libertarian, her Objectivist philosophy and her radical defense of rational egoism and laissez-faire deeply influenced many libertarian thinkers.
- Murray Rothbard: He united 19th-century individualist anarchism with the economics of the Austrian School to formulate anarcho-capitalism (or free-market anarchism).
- Robert Nozick: With Anarchy, State, and Utopia (1974), he gave academic legitimacy to minarchism, arguing that only a minimal state is morally justifiable.

Summarizing

Genealogical tree of libertarianism (simplified)

                        Judeo-Christian Bible
                                 ↓
                             Aristotle
                                 ↓
        Christian Natural Law (Thomas Aquinas and Augustine of Hippo)        
                                 ↓
        School of Salamanca (1500-1600) (ideas via Jesuits and trade)
                                 ↓
                Locke + Smith + Bastiat + Others (1700-1800)
                                 ↓
                     Classical libertarianism (19th century)
                                 ↓
        ┌────────────────────────┴────────────────────────┐
        │                                                 │
Austrian School (Mises, Hayek)          Individualist anarchism 
        │                                         (Spooner│, Tucker)        
        └───────────────────────Fusion────────────────────┘
                           Murray Rothbard (1950-60)
                                 ↓
                     **MODERN LIBERTARIANISM**
                (minarchism + anarcho-capitalism)

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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Last updated: 2026-05-04

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