ABSTRACT
Libertarian thinkers argue that only a coercive state with minimal functions can be ethically justified. In the case of the libertarian anarchists, no state at all can be so justified. The minimal state conclusion might be the result of a utilitarian argument about the consequences for the general happiness of the state taking on different functions. I shall touch on such an argument in the next chapter. Here I shall concentrate on minimal state theories that rest on the claim to a natural right to liberty. The idea of a natural right to liberty as the foundational principle of social and political order is the idea that the only legitimate restriction on my doing what I please is the requirement to respect the equal right to liberty of other human beings. Otherwise, I am bound only by what I can agree to in my own interest. This might include a minimal state or it might not.
