Tag Archives: Natural Rights

The atheist conservatism of Gustave Le Bon

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on July 15, 2011

As more scholars start recognizing the emerging “Secular Right” (or atheist conservatism) there will be increased research into the historical precedents of this phenomenon. There can be little doubt that these scholars will take a renewed interest in Gustave Le … Continue reading →

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Jim Crawford against natural rights

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on August 4, 2010

Jim Crawford’s autobiographical antinatalist manifesto Confessions of an Antinatalist(review here) contains an illuminating perspective on the idea of natural rights: Concurrent with our wish to understand the human condition through over-simplification is our tendency to ground human desire and behavior … Continue reading →

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Anything that’s peaceful

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on May 28, 2010

Libertarians spend a non-trivial amount of time arguing for the obvious. At best, such arguments are redundant because there is no widespread believe that violence or threats of violence are a good thing. At worst, these debates hurt the prospects … Continue reading →

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Theodore Dalrymple on rights and moral imagination

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on July 28, 2009

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Theodore Dalrymple (Anthony Daniels) makes the following observation: When the supposed right to health care is widely recognized, as in the United Kingdom, it tends to reduce moral imagination. Whenever I deny the existence … Continue reading →

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Murray Rothbard’s obscure case for the obvious

by Aschwin de Wolf Posted on January 27, 2009

Libertarians are not doing themselves a favor by taking on the burden of proof to argue for something that most people take for granted. Bryan Caplan makes a similar point about Murray Rothbard’s defense of “libertarian rights:” I object that … Continue reading →

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