A Consequentialist Defense of Libertarianism

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In A Consequentialist Defense of Libertarianism, Richard Fumerton argues that empirical facts concerning consequences must always play a crucial role in understanding what we morally or rationally ought to do. After making distinctions between morality and law, he defends the view that it is a fundamental mistake to think that the law should always, or even usually, attempt to mirror morality. With this framework in place, Fumerton addresses various controversial questions concerning when the law ought to side with freedom. He offers a nuanced defense of several positions shared by many "moderate" libertarians.

This consequentialist defense of freedom offers a fresh perspective on some very old philosophical debates. As more people become frustrated with a perceived lack of principled attempts by established political parties to appreciate important concerns people have involving their desire for freedom, the issues discussed in this book are particularly timely.

Reviews

"It might seem that consequentialism and libertarianism make strange bedfellows. But for Richard Fumerton, in this tour de force of a philosophical journey ranging from metaethics to public policy, they make a happy marriage."

Libertarianism valorizes individual freedom, and on the traditional libertarian view, that freedom is demanded and secured by individual rights. Consequentialism is often thought to be antithetical to libertarianism precisely because it cannot accommodate such rights, instead requiring significant personal sacrifice for the greater good. In A Consequentialist Defense of Libertarianism, Richard Fumerton turns this debate on its head, advancing a consequentialist libertarianism that is more subtle than most extant rights-based versions of libertarianism and anything but doctrinaire.

Author Bio

Richard Fumerton is F. Wendell Miller Professor of philosophy at the University of Iowa.