ABSTRACT
Political libertarianism is the view that the fundamental norm that ought to govern the scope and activity of coercive political or legal institutions is respect for individual liberty. Acceptable coercive state action is essentially limited to action that protects the freedom of individuals in ways that does not itself violate anyone's liberty. Coercive state action that infringes on individual liberty for the sake of making people virtuous or for the sake of preventing people from harming themselves is not permissible. Libertarians also maintain that respect for liberty crucially includes respect for people's rights to acquire property and to exercise discretionary control of their justly acquired property. Coercive interference with people's economic lives is as objectionable as coercive interference with people's lifestyle or religious choices. Thus libertarian theorists reject doctrines of distributive justice that seek to vindicate the coercive redistribution of income or wealth that individuals have acquired through rights-respecting processes.
