ABSTRACT
This chapter describes defences of libertarianism that refer to the value of freedom. It starts with a description of indirect and negative arguments in favour of libertarianism. They are indirect because they focus on non-libertarian approaches to politics and they are negative because they point at the undesirable consequences of the freedom-impairing nature of such approaches. It then turns to a direct and positive account: Nozick’s description of a libertarian society as ‘a framework for utopia’. The direct and indirect arguments are subsequently embedded in a more general account of the different reasons for valuing freedom. This account not only helps us to understand justifications for libertarianism that are ultimately grounded in values other than freedom, but also makes clear how the value of freedom yields a distinctive defence of libertarianism.
