Law in a Libertarian World

My forthcoming book Law in a Libertarian World: Legal Foundations of a Free Society will be published in 2022 (Papinian Press). This is an edited selection of my articles and essays dealing with a variety of issues in libertarian rights and legal theory. The Introduction and further information will be posted later, but the currently proposed material to be included is listed and linked to below, where feasible. The Introduction will link to this page, which compiles selected supplementary material that may be of interest to readers of the book. I include this material here, instead of in the book, so that the information may be updated/corrected from time to time, and include easy hyperlinking to the relevant material. See also The Story of a Libertarian Book Cover.

Links to the supplementary material and readings are provided below.

Law in a Libertarian World: Legal Foundations of a Free Society

• Introduction

PART I: LIBERTARIANISM

• 1. How I Became A Libertarian, December 18, 2002, LewRockwell.com [in I Chose Liberty: Autobiographies of Contemporary Libertarians (compiled by Walter Block; Mises Institute 2010)]. Supplementary material:
  • “Faculty Spotlight Interview: Stephan Kinsella,” Mises Economics Blog (Feb. 11, 2011) [archived]
• 2. What Libertarianism Is, in Hülsmann & Kinsella, eds., Property, Freedom, and Society: Essays in Honor of Hans-Hermann Hoppe (Mises Institute, 2009)
• 3. What It Means To Be an Anarcho-Capitalist, LewRockwell.com (Jan. 20, 2004)

PART II: RIGHTS

• 4. How We Come To Own Ourselves, Mises Daily (Sep. 7, 2006)
• 5. A Libertarian Theory of Punishment and Rights, 30 Loy. L.A. L. Rev. 607-45 (1997)
• 6. “Dialogical Arguments for Libertarian Rights,” in The Dialectics of Liberty (Lexington Books, 2019) [based on New Rationalist Directions in Libertarian Rights Theory, 12:2 Journal of Libertarian Studies: 313-26 (Fall 1996)]
• 7. Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan, Anti-state.com (Sept. 19, 2002)

PART III: LIBERTARIAN LEGAL THEORY

• 8. Causation and Aggression (with Patrick Tinsley), The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics, vol. 7, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 97-112
• 9. A Libertarian Theory of Contract: Title Transfer, Binding Promises, and Inalienability, Journal of Libertarian Studies 17, no. 2 (Spring 2003): 11-37
• 10. Inalienability and Punishment: A Reply to George Smith, Winter 1998-99, Journal of Libertarian Studies
• 11. Reply to Van Dun: Non-Aggression and Title Transfer, Journal of Libertarian Studies, Volume 18, no. 2 (Spring 2004)
• 12.  Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society, Journal of Libertarian Studies 11 (Summer 1995), p. 132

PART IV: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

• 13. Law and Intellectual Property in a Stateless Society, Libertarian Papers 5 (1) (2013): 1-44
• 14. Intellectual Freedom and Learning Versus Patent and Copyright, Economic Notes No. 113 (Libertarian Alliance, Jan. 18, 2011)
• 15. Goods, Scarce and Nonscarce (with Jeffrey A. Tucker),

PART V: REVIEWS

• 16. Knowledge, Calculation, Conflict, and Law (review essay of Randy E. Barnett, The Structure of Liberty)
• 17. Book Review of Anthony de Jasay, Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order
• 18. Taking the Ninth Amendment Seriously: A Review of Calvin R. Massey’s Silent Rights: The Ninth Amendment and the Constitution’s Unenumerated Rights
• 19. The Undeniable Morality of Capitalism, 25 St. Mary’s Law Journal 1419 (1994) (review essay of Hans-Hermann Hoppe, The Economics and Ethics of Private Property (1993))

PART V: INTERVIEWS & SPEECHES

• 20. “Stephan Kinsella on Libertarian Legal Theory, Self-Ownership and Drug Laws,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (July 20, 2014)
• 21. “Stephan Kinsella on the Logic of Libertarianism and Why Intellectual Property Doesn’t Exist,” interview with Anthony Wile, The Daily Bell (March 18, 2012)
• 22. Libertarianism After Fifty Years: What Have We Learned?, NYC LibertyFest, Brooklyn, NY (October 11, 2014)

❧

Selected Supplementary Material for Law in a Libertarian World: Legal Foundations of a Free Society

 Introductory Works

• Ludwig von Mises, The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science
• Murray N. Rothbard, For A New Liberty; The Ethics of Liberty; Economic Controversies; Law, Property Rights and Air Pollution
• Hans-Hermann Hoppe, A Theory of Socialism and Capitalism; The Economics and Ethics of Private Property; Economic Science and the Austrian Method
• Jacob Huebert, Libertarianism Today

Websites/Other

• C4SIF (Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom)
• C4SIF IP Resources
• Selected Supplementary Material for Against Intellectual Property
• The Libertarian Standard

Media

• Kinsella on Liberty Podcast

Books and Articles

• John Hasnas, The Myth of the Rule of Law
• Randy Barnett, The Structure of Liberty
• Bastiat, The Law
• Anthony de Jasay, Against Politics: On Government, Anarchy, and Order (London & New York: Routledge, 1997)
• Bruno Leoni, Freedom and the Law
• Giovanni Sartori, Liberty and Law and Democratic Theory
• The Greatest Libertarian Books, StephanKinsella.com (Aug. 7, 2006)

Blog Posts & Articles

• Thoughts on Walter Block on Voluntary Slavery, Alienability vs. Inalienability, Property and Contract, Rothbard and Evers
  (Jan. 9, 2022)
• Four questions for “anti-capitalist” libertarians (Carpio)/Is Capitalism Something Good? (Richman) (2010) (Jan. 6, 2022)
• Homesteading, Abandonment, and Unowned Land in the Civil Law (Mises Blog, 2009) (Aug. 28, 2021)
• Michael Malice’s The Anarchist Handbook: Supplemental Readings (May 20, 2021)
• Libertarian Answer Man: Self-ownership for slaves and Crusoe; and Yiannopoulos on Accurate Analysis and the term “Property” (April 3, 2021)
• Reading Suggestions for Prospective/New Law Students (Roman/Civil law focus) (March 3, 2021)
• The “If you own something, that implies that you can sell it; if you sell something, that implies you must own it first” Fallacies, StephanKinsella.com (June 2, 2018)
• Rothbard on the Main Fallacy of our Time: Marx’s Labor Theory of Value (Dec. 26, 2016)
• Kevin Carson on Confiscating Property from the Rich (April 26, 2016)
• The Genesis of Estoppel: My Libertarian Rights Theory (Mar. 22, 2016)
• My Failed Libertarian Speaking Hiatus; Memories of Mises Institute and Other Events, 1988–2015 (Feb. 29, 2016)
• The Great Mises-Hayek Dehomogenization/Economic Calculation Debate (Feb. 8, 2016)
• The Great Fractional Reserve/Freebanking Debate (Jan. 29, 2016)
• Structural Safeguards to Limit Legislation (Jan. 23, 2015)
• Rothbard on the “Original Sin” in Land Titles: 1969 vs. 1974 (Nov. 5, 2014)
• Mises, Rothbard, and Hoppe on the “Original Sin” in the Distribution of Property Rights (Oct. 7, 2014)
• Who is a libertarian?, Feb. 26, 2013
• Hoppe on Treating Aggressors as Mere “Technical Problems” (Jan. 5, 2013)
• The Amazing Hume, Libertarian Standard (May 30, 2012)
• Don’t worry–you don’t exist: Or, why long-range planning is really impossible [on simulations] (April 22, 2012)
• The Disingenuous “Liberty Isn’t the Only Value” Attack by Liberals and Conservatives on Libertarianism, The Libertarian Standard (Jan. 17, 2012)
• Classificationism, Legislation, Copyright, C4SIF (Oct. 25, 2011)
• Corporate Personhood, Limited Liability, and Double Taxation, LibertarianStandard.com (Oct. 18, 2011)
• The relation between the non-aggression principle and property rights: a response to Division by Zer0, Mises Blog (Oct. 4, 2011) (archived comments)
• The Origin of “Libertarianism,” Mises Blog (Sept. 10, 2011); see also Rothbard on Leonard Read and the Origins of “Libertarianism” (Nov. 17, 2014)
• Rothbard on Mercantilism and State “Patents of Monopoly” (Aug. 29, 2011)
• State Hypocrisy on Anti-Bribery Laws, Mises Blog (July 10, 2011)
• Slate’s Metcalf on Libertarianism and Nozick, Mises Blog (June 22, 2011)
• Hoppe on Property Rights in Physical Integrity vs Value, StephanKinsella.com (June 12, 2011)
• On the Danger of Metaphors in Scientific Discourse, StephanKinsella.com (June 12, 2011)
• Hoppe on Falsificationism, Empiricism, and Apriorism and Protophysics, StephanKinsella.com (June 9, 2011)
• Spooner on Knaves, Dupes, and the Constitution; and the Highwayman vs. The State, StephanKinsella.com (June 8, 2011)
• Vulgarism, Left-libertarianism, Taco Bell, and “Power” (June 3, 2011)
• Objectivists on Positive Parental Obligations and Abortion (Jan. 14, 2011)
• The Start of my Legal Career: Past, Present and Future: Survival Stories of Lawyers (December 6, 2010)
• Property Title Records and Insurance in a Free Society, Mises Blog (Dec. 4, 2010)
• Randy Barnett’s “Federalism Amendment”–A Counterproposal; and related posts (Dec. 3, 2010)
• Against the Non-Aggression Principle and Self-Ownership? Run! (Nov. 21, 2010)
• Justice and Property Rights: Rothbard on Scarcity, Property, Contracts…, Libertarian Standard (Nov. 19, 2010)
• Mises: Keep It Interesting (Oct. 16, 2010)
• The Problem with Natural Rights and True Believer Activism (Oct. 7, 2010)
• The Superiority of the Roman Law: Scarcity, Property, Locke and Libertarianism (Aug. 17, 2010)
• Rand’s Immortal Robot and “Values” (June 23, 2010)
• Logical and Legal Positivism (June 23, 2010)
• Hoppe on Covenant Communities and Advocates of Alternative Lifestyles (May 26, 2010)
• Future of Freedom Fund (May 6, 2010)
• The Nature of the State and Why Libertarians Hate It, StephanKinsella.com (May 3, 2010)
• Capitalism, Socialism, and Libertarianism (April 16, 2010)
• Left-Libertarians Admit Opposition to “Capitalism” is Substantive (April 22, 2010)
• Net Neutrality Developments, The Libertarian Standard (April 7, 2010)
• Should Libertarians Oppose “Capitalism”? (March 3, 2010)
• The Non-Aggression Principle as a Limit on Action, Not on Property Rights, StephanKinsella.com (Jan. 22, 2010)
• IP and Aggression as Limits on Property Rights: How They Differ, StephanKinsella.com (Jan. 22, 2010)
• Why Spam is Trespass (Jan. 18, 2010)
• Objectivism Schism Form Letter; I break for Randians; Breaking, Broken, Broke: Silly Objectivist Tendencies (Jan. 12, 2010)
• “Aggression” versus “Harm” in Libertarianism (Dec. 16, 2009)
• The Libertarian Case Against the Fourteenth Amendment (Nov. 30, 2009)
• Milton Friedman on Intolerance, Liberty, Mises, Etc. (Nov. 9, 2009)
•  A Libertarian Take on Net Neutrality (Nov. 4, 2009)
• The Unique American Federal Government (Oct. 26, 2009)
• Another Problem with Legislation: James Carter v. the Field Codes (Oct. 14, 2009)
• Rand, Objectivism, and One-World Government (Sept. 17, 2009)
• Objectivism, Bidinotto, and Anarchy (Sept. 17, 2009)
• Libertarian Centralists (Sept. 17, 2009)
• Hoppe Is Not A Monarchist (Sep. 15, 2009)
• Verstehen and the Role of Economics in Forecasting, or: If You’re so Rich, Why Aren’t You Smart? (Sep. 1, 2009)
• The Libertarian Approach to Negligence, Tort, and Strict Liability: Wergeld and Partial Wergeld (Sep. 1, 2009)
• BrainPolice’s Critique of “What Libertarianism Is”  (Aug. 23, 2009)
• Hoppe: Marx was “Essentially Correct” (Aug. 22, 2009)
• Left-Libertarians on Rothbardian Abandonment, Mises Blog (Aug. 22, 2009)
• The Irrelevance of the Impossibility of Anarcho-Libertarianism, Mises Blog (Aug. 20, 2009) (archived comments)
• Why Airwaves (Electromagnetic Spectra) Are (Arguably) Property (Aug. 9, 2009)
• Was Mises an Anarchist? (Aug. 7, 2009)
• The Problem with “Coercion” (Aug. 7, 2009)
• Van Dun on Freedom versus Property and Hostile Encirclement (Aug. 3, 2009)
• Inability to Abandon Property in the Civil Law (Aug. 3, 2009)
• Rockwell on Hoppe on the Constitution as Expansion of Government Power (Aug. 3, 2009)
• A Critique of Mutualist Occupancy, Mises Blog (Aug. 2, 2009)
• Advice for Prospective Libertarian Law Students (July 28, 2009)
• What Kind of Libertarian Are You? [Cato] (July 8, 2009)
• Statism in Libertarian Thinking (July 5, 2009)
• The Libertarian Case for Gay Marriage, LewRockwell.com (June 24, 2009)
• The new libertarianism: anti-capitalist and socialist; or: I prefer Hazlitt’s “Cooperatism” (June 19, 2009)
• Supreme Court: Innocence is No Defense, LewRockwell.com Blog (June 18, 2009)
• comment on Kevin Carson’s post “Socialism: A Perfectly Good Word Rehabilitated” (June 9, 2009)
• Ayn Rand Endorses Big Government, LewRockwell.com Blog (May 31, 2009)
• Homesteading, Abandonment, and Unowned Land in the Civil Law (archived comments), Mises Blog (May 22, 2009)
• The Libertarian View on Fine Print, Shrinkwrap, Clickwrap (May 8, 2009)
• The Walmart Question, or, the Unsupported Assertions of Left-Libertarianism (Apr. 26, 2009)
• The Division of Labor as the Source of Grundnorms and Rights,” Mises Economics Blog (April 24, 2009)
• Revisiting Argumentation Ethics (March 13, 2009)
• Down With the Lockean Proviso (March 13, 2009)
• Fraud, Restitution, and Retaliation: The Libertarian Approach (Feb. 3, 2009)
• Left-Libertarians and the Corporate Income Tax (LRC, Dec. 13, 2008)
• Limited Liability, Paleo-libertarianism, Left-Libertarianism: Recent Posts and Debates (Dec. 12, 2008)
• Left-Libertarians on Corporations “Expropriating the Efforts of Stakeholders” (Dec. 8, 2008)
• Dyslexic Vandarchists of the World–Untie!, LewRockwell.com (Dec. 8, 2008)
• The Over-reliance on State Classifications: “Employee” and “Shareholder” (Mises 2008) (Nov. 20, 2008)
• Is Macy’s Part of the State? A Critique of Left Deviationists (Oct. 9, 2008)
• Ayn Rand and Garet Garrett (Oct. 2, 2007; archived comments)
• Shoot the looters!, LewRockwell.com (Sept. 22, 2008)
• Left Anarchists and Progressive Taxation (Mises, 2008) (Sept. 18, 2008)
• The Blockean Proviso (Sep. 11, 2007)
• “Thoughts on the Latecomer and Homesteading Ideas; or, Why the Very Idea of ‘Ownership’ Implies that only Libertarian Principles are Justifiable,” Mises Economics Blog (Aug. 15, 2007)
• Higher Law (July 24, 2007)
• Why I’m a Libertarian–or, Why Libertarianism is Beautiful, Mises blog (Dec. 12, 2006)
• Block on Abortion, Mises Blog (Oct. 2, 2006)
• “Empathy and the Source of Rights,” Mises Economics Blog (Sept. 6, 2006)
• The Limits of Armchair Theorizing: The case of Threats (Jul. 27, 2006)
• The Problem with “Fraud”: Fraud, Threat, and Contract Breach as Types of Aggression (July 17, 2006)
• Knowledge vs. Calculation, Mises Blog (July 11, 2006)
• Hate Crime—Intentional Action and Motivations, Mises blog (Nov. 25, 2005) (archived comments; Facebook discussion)
• Slavery, Inalienability, Economics, and Ethics, Mises Blog (Oct. 11, 2005)
• Peculium, and the State as Overlord, LRC (Aug. 11, 2005)
• Woops, They Did It Again (Bad Supreme Court! Bad! Bad!) (June 23, 2005)
• Mises and Rand (and Rothbard) (Feb. 4, 2005)
• Hoppe on Liberal Economies and War, Mises Blog (Jan. 25, 2005)