ABSTRACT
Libertarianism is a liberal view and, as such, answers to the value of liberty. But libertarianism answers to this value in distinctive ways. Libertarianism has a distinctive approach to the sort of value liberty has and its positioning among other moral and political values, and a distinctive approach to promoting or protecting it. This chapter will attempt to canvass these distinctive elements, but in a way that can be captured in a non-sectarian and intuitive understanding of the basic concept of liberty. Liberty is being able to do what you want to do. Every moral and political theory in which liberty features should accommodate this simple, basic account. Key distinguishing features in the libertarian view arise out of different ways of thinking about how the value of liberty informs how we should settle problems we confront in social life.
