Absolute Freedom of Contract
Grotian Lessons for Libertarians
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6252399 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeppe Von Platz (0000-0002-6329-6211, Suffolk University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 107-119 |
| Publication date | 2013-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0891-3811 • E-ISSN: 1933-8007 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/08913811.2013.823766 |
| OpenAlex | W2054081871 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 7 |
Libertarians often rely on arguments that subordinate the principle of liberty to the value of its economic consequences. This invites the question of what a pure libertarian theory of justice—one that takes liberty as its overriding concern—would look like. Grotius's political theory provides a template for such a libertarianism, but it also entails uncomfortable commitments that can be avoided only by compromising the principle of liberty. According to Grotius, each person should be free to decide how to act as long as her actions do not violate the equal liberty of others. According to this principle, however, people are free to enter any contract and alienate any rights, permitting even contracts of slavery or the alienation of rights of bodily integrity. Libertarians can escape this commitment to absolute freedom of contract only by adopting ad-hoc amendments to the principle of liberty
Absolute (philosophy · Alienation · Economic Justice · Economics · Epistemology · Freedom of contract · Law and economics · Libertarianism · Negative liberty · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought · War, Ethics, and Justification
| Citations per year | 0.55 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2016 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |