In this way the reader's expectations are kept in check against any unruly desire to go beyond the limits and the terms defined by the so-called "free-will debate." Within it, the polarity of
libertarianism and compatibilism can ultimately be construed as one of alternative strategies in coping with the challenge posed by mechanism.
This is a convenient form of amnesia and one which raises serious questions about his professed
libertarianism. While defending casual sex, Altman makes the following curious observation: `Inconvenient as it may be, the reality is that one can have great sex with someone one neither loves nor likes; indeed under the right circumstances hatred is an effective aphrodisiac.' There is something rather disturbing about this, something which reeks of virulent male self-justification.
This is a tribal
libertarianism. Just over a year ago Wired featured a cover story on Burning Man, a weekend gathering in the deserts of Nevada where technology and counterculture meet in a festival of body drumming, and electronically enhanced mayhem, culminating in the burning of a huge human figure, a custom last practiced by Europe's ancient Celts.
Academe considered
libertarianism little more than an aberration of the far right.
The most important policy tension exists between the libertarian foundations of America, characterized by "frontier spirit" and "self-reliance," and the egalitarian spirit exemplified by "equal opportunity for all." Tensions also exist within
libertarianism and egalitarianism.
It's particularly important that we make this commonsense case for
libertarianism today, because so much of our public debate has devolved into tribal identitarianism--conservative vs.
Freedom and Self-Creation: Anselmian
Libertarianism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Clearly, the aim here is to position
libertarianism as the only ideology that supports and defends liberty.
And, yet, prohibition by law is not an option open to
libertarianism, which deals, solely, with intra-human relations.
Van De Haar presents students, academics, and general interest readers with an examination of classical liberalism, social liberalism, and
libertarianism, exploring their relation to liberal political theory and ideology.