The Ethics Of Liberty - A Crusoe Social Philosophy

 The Ethics Of Liberty - Murray Rothbard

The next section of the book contains the meat of Rothbard's theory of liberty.  His exercise consists of thinking through what it takes for a man to sustain life using the character of Robinson Crusoe as an example.  He starts with what one individual all alone must do to survive and then in the following chapters adds characters in order to explore how an individual can have liberty within society.

                "Let us consider Crusoe, who has landed on his island, and, to simplify

                matters, has contracted amnesia."

In that state Crusoe first notices his own body, his consciousness, and the world around him.  However he doesn't know anything about them.  Shortly, he will sense that he has different needs or wants through hunger, fatigue, or exposure to weather.  It will become clear to him that he must satisfy these needs in order to stay alive.  After that Crusoe will have wants that will make himself more secure or more happy.

Some things he can achieve easily.  For example, if he finds berries on a bush ready to eat, he can satisfy hunger quickly.  However, most solutions aren't so immediate.  The natural world provides many things that can be used to accomplish his goals.  Call these "resources".  In most cases he must put thought and energy into resources to produce solutions.

                "he must, as quickly and productively, as he can, take the nature-given

                resources and transform them into useful objects, shapes, and places most

                useful to him-- so that he can satisfy his wants."

 His ability to flourish, and ours as well, depends on following a process of learning and working.

                "[He must] (a) choose his goals; (b) learn how to achieve them by using nature-given

                resources; and then (c) exert his labor energy to transform these resources

                into more useful shapes and places"

When Crusoe exerts his labor to convert resources into what he needs, we call that "production".  The result of production we call "goods".  There are two categories of "goods".  Crusoe uses "capital goods" to increase his productivity.  Tools are one example of capital goods.  In Crusoe's situation think of an axe, a fishing net, or a shovel.  Capital goods are then employed to create "consumer goods", which are used to directly satisfy needs or wants.  The axe can be used to cut wood for making fires, a shelter, or a canoe.  The fishing net helps him catch fish more efficiently.  Some things can be both based on how they are used.  For example, a fire can be a consumer good in that it keeps you warm and a capital good in that it cooks food.  In every case production proceeds consumption.

                "by this process of production, or transformation, man shapes and alters

                his nature-given environment to his own ends, instead of, animal-like,

                being simply determined by that environment."

All of this takes the human ability of reason.  He must employ reason to understand the natural law of himself and that of everything around him, using "introspection" and "extraspection."  It should be noted that this process about sustaining life isn't purely a materialistic exercise.  Both the human spirit and matter are involved.  Every material good Crusoe produces involves an idea which is a "manifestation of man's spirit".

Further through introspection upon his own consciousness, Crusoe discovers something about human nature.  He discovers that he has the freedom to choose.  Some people, including Rothbard, call this "free will".  I prefer to call it freedom to choose.  I think that sufficiently describes our human experience without making too broad of a claim.  In his mind, he makes decisions.  His mind controls his body to carry out those decisions.  Therefore Crusoe infers that he owns his own body.

The beginning of the natural law of man is the axiom that life and health is good while pain and death are bad.  Of course, it isn't always true that pain equals bad and pleasure equals good.  Life is complex.  But in general, Rothbard proves that life is an objective, universal value by showing that it reaches to the level of axiom.  Something is an axiom if the person who tries to reject it uses it in his attempt at rejection.

                "For if he were really opposed to life, he would have no business in such a

                discussion, indeed he would have no business continuing to be alive.  Hence,

                the supposed opponent of life is really affirming it in the very process of his

                discussion"

Rothbard then returns to the subject of man's freedom.  He responds to those who say that "freedom is illusory because man is bound by natural laws".  Here he makes a distinction between freedom and power.  Crusoe is free to believe whatever he chooses.  He is free to value some things more than others.  He is free to direct his own actions to procure those things he values.  But Crusoe is always bound by his own nature and the nature of the world (i.e. natural law), therefore he may not have the power to do what he desires.

                "man, not being omnipotent as well as not being omniscient always finds

                power limited for doing all the things the he would like to do.  In short,

                his power is necessarily limited by natural laws, but not his freedom of will."

I will go a step further.  Our constraints on freedom extend beyond our physical lack of omnipotence or our mental lack of omniscience.  A human's freedom of choice is also constrained spiritually.  Our wills don't want just anything.  Our wills are constrained to want certain things.  This is why I reject the idea of "free will".  An individual's value system itself is constrained according to the apostle Paul.  Therefore, Crusoe does have freedom to choose.  He has agency to direct his own life.  However, that direction is constrained by the condition of his spirit.  As for all humans, his will is either directed towards righteousness or sin, based on whether or not he has entered into a relationship with God through Christ.

                "17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became 

                obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,

                18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

While it is an interesting subject to think about, this distinction won't be so important in the remaining parts of the book since Rothbard doesn't focus on freedom of the will.  His focus is interpersonal freedom in society.  Up until now the concern has been about how Crusoe must support his life on the island.  He finds unused land and converts it to his property.  He mixes his labor with it to produce goods.  He uses those goods to keep himself alive and well.

Rothbard also introduces a geographical constraint on property ownership.  Crusoe can't claim ownership of the whole island if he doesn't actively use it to support his life.  Imagine Crusoe landing on the shores of North America with no one else living on the Continent, and announcing that he owns all of North America.  The Continent is much too vast for one man to make use of, therefore he can't claim it as his property.  It is another argument about power versus freedom. Crusoe doesn't have the power to use a whole island or Continent so it can't all be his property.

The complicating factors come when there are other Crusoes on the island doing the same thing.  As they are all making choices to enhance their lives, inevitably questions arise about how people ought to interact with one another.  In the following chapters Rothbard continues to reason through how Crusoe can still have liberty while bumping elbows with others claiming ownership on parts of the island.