Hospers: What Libertarianism Is?

Hospers: What Libertarianism Is?

John Hospers writes on Libertarianism and defines his views on what he thinks of it and his opinions. First of all libertarianism is the doctrine that every person is the owner of his own life, and that no one is the owner of anyone else's life; and that consequently every human being has the right to act in accordance with his own choices, unless those actions infringe on the equal liberty of other human beings to act in accordance with their choices. This definition is important to me because I allows me to understand the correct definition so that I can understand the inputs that and opinions of Hospers.

Hospers think that government intervention in society should be limited in some since. Hospers says, "the only appropriate function of government is to protect human rights, understood as negative rights." This I agree with to an extent because usually when the government get too involve in someone's life or in their right then there are usually quarrels and arguments that come about. I think him and Locke would go hand and hand with this issue because Locke thinks that the least amount of government intervention is what society needs. Hospers writes on "opera-lovers" and says they want to "legalizing plunder", this meaning that they just take money from the average person for something that they think would be good for them (Hospers 320). Hospers does not like this concept because he writes about if this happens to him (the average man getting taxed) then why can't and shouldn't he do the same action towards me.

Next is the "inventors of utopias" and Hospers says to beware. He says that they remake the world according to their vision and that other people should labor for this just because they think that it is good. I agree one hundred and ten percent with Hospers in this aspect unless the people are getting paid by this "master", but Hospers say that they must "enslave" them and I totally disagree with this. It's not right for one man with power to enslave another man just because he thinks it is good for the community and world because it's just not right. "Free services" should not be free unless the person doing it wants it to be free and is willing to give up their time to do this service. Hospers writes that he cannot claim someone else's

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