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Welcome to the The Moral Libertarian Horizon Wiki

This Wiki is for the discussion and promotion of both liberal thinking in general, and Moral Libertarian ideas in particular. There will be content about the great tradition of liberalism stretching back several centuries, as well as contemporary debates from the Moral Libertarian viewpoint.

What is Moral Libertarianism?

How does liberalism's dedication to distributing liberty equally make it a moral ideology? To answer this question, we need to first look at what liberty is. Liberty is the power an individual has over their own actions, their ability to put their ideas into action. Therefore, looking at it from a moral perspective, liberty is moral agency, i.e. the ability to act in accordance with one's moral compass. An equitable distribution of liberty therefore ensures an equitable distribution of moral agency. In this way, liberalism ensures that every individual in society has an equal share of moral agency.

Most importantly, liberalism is the thought system that underlies many assumptions of the Western liberal democratic system, so a healthy appreciation of liberalism is needed to keep the system functional.

In our moral system, the post-Enlightenment Western moral system, it is generally held that people should be entirely responsible for their own actions. Indeed, if this principle does not hold, our whole moral system would collapse. Hence, to be moral, in the context of our code of morality, is to be fully responsible for our own choices, our own decisions, and our own actions, and to make sure that these don’t result in negative outcomes, especially on other people. Our moral system places a particular emphasis on individual accountability and responsibility, and for our moral system to work, our culture and politics must support these notions clearly, and to the fullest extent possible. Furthermore, the individualistic nature of Western morality means that, whenever power is concentrated in a few hands, those few people will exercise their power solely according to their own sense of morality, not because it’s their fault, not because it’s the system’s fault, but because it’s what Western morality actually expects people to do. In this situation, there will inevitably be a lack of moral accountability, which means a lack of moral responsibility.

The Moral Libertarian principle of Equal Moral Agency for every individual is a principle derived from the individual accountability requirements of the Western moral system, and seeks to prevent lack of moral accountability. It ensures, as much as possible, that nobody has moral agency over another person’s actions, and that every person can act according to their own moral agency.

Wiki Rules

Purpose of this Wiki

The purpose of this Wiki is to allow the community to expand on the core ideas of Moral Libertarianism, including those found in the Moral Libertarian Horizon books. Moral Libertarians are encouraged to leave their thoughts on each issue on this Wiki, by leaving comments on the pages. You can also add a new idea, issue or insight, by adding a new page.

If you have something you think should be added, feel free to contribute to any article on this Wiki! We are trying to make it more complete as time goes on.

This is a platform to discuss and refine each idea. Remember to keep the discussions civil and polite.