Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Sustainable Liberty and its Normative Flavors

There is no such thing as "conservative libertarianism" or "progressive libertarianism" - they are mirages rooted in category mistakes. Liberty shackled by "conservatism" quickly dies under the weight of superstition and prejudice. Liberty hollowed out by "progressivism" quickly dissolves into nihilism. On the other hand, genuine, solid, and sustainable liberty is associated both with the "preventive" virtues of temperance and prudence - without which it becomes detached from responsibility, thus turning into license - and with the "developmental" virtues of resourcefulness and courage - without which it becomes detached from self-reflection, thus turning into a slogan. In other words, liberty without any "conservative" or "progressive" flavor is not only not normatively hollow, but, on the contrary, it is the only liberty that can be normatively fruitful.

No comments:

Post a Comment