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Liberty & Equality

Liberty Requires Equality

James P. Sterba thinks libertarianism implies a right to welfare.

What is a just society? In seeking a defensible conception of justice, it behooves us to start with the assumptions of the libertarian perspective, the view that appears to endorse the least enforcement of morality. I propose to show that this libertarian view, contrary to what its defenders usually maintain, requires a right to welfare; and that further, this right to welfare (which is also endorsed by a welfare liberal perspective), leads to the substantial equality advocated by socialists.

The Ideal of Negative Liberty

Let us begin by interpreting the ideal of liberty as a negative ideal in the manner favored by libertarians. So understood, liberty is the absence of interference by other people from doing what one wants or is just able to do. Libertarians go on to characterize their political ideal as requiring that each person should have the greatest amount of liberty morally commensurate with the greatest amount of liberty for everyone else.

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