Narveson, The Libertarian Idea . . . . # The Libertarian Idea by Jan Narveson Department of Philosophy University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3G1) August 10, 1987 Contents of this Manuscript are not to be quoted without permission of the author. Comments on any or all sections welcomed. Contents Part I: Is Libertarianism Possible? Preface 12 Prologue: The Knock at the Door 19 l. Liberalism, Conservatism, Libertarianism 24 A Preliminary Definition 24 Liberal/Conservative 24 Left, Right, Center 30 Liberal Individualism as One Kind of Conservatism 30 2. Liberty 33 Another Preliminary Definition 33 The Subject of Liberty: Who (What) is Free/Unfree? 34 Liberty and Autonomy 35 The Nonatomic Individual 39 What Is Liberty? 40 Liberty: Freedom to Bring About 41 Freedom From and Freedom To 42 Utter Freedom 43 Interferences: Where the Action Is 43 3. Liberty: Negative versus Positive 45 Negative and Positive Liberty: Freedom versus Power 45 Lack of Desire: A Constraint? 46 Another Constraint: Lack of Reason? 49