NaturalLibertyRequiresAdherenceto Truth 329is separatefromthat of any otherperson’s. Herderand Fichtefiguredthat if observational
reasonis not the sole methodof ascertainingtruth,thenany propositionone can imagine
can be acceptedas theoreticallypossible.Theythenproposedthatthereis no individual,
andinsteadthatthereis but a singlecollectiveconsciousnessamongpeople.Oncethey
andGeorgHegelgot thatideaacceptedin Germany,it becameeasyfor Germansto
rationalizethatthe individualcouldbe justlysacrificedfor a mysticalState.Thatis why,
despitetheirprofessedsympathiesfor laissez-faireliberalrepublicanism,Humeand Kant
ultimatelyclearedthe pathfor mysticalgovernismin nineteenth-centuryGermany.To
undermineculturalacceptancein observationalreasonis ultimatelyto underminethe
logicalargumentsfor liberty.Andas we alsorecollectfromchapter9, it wasthe philoso-
phersof nineteenth-centuryGermanywhoinspiredthe likesof RichardT. Ely and Simon
Pattenand JohnDeweyto establishthe regulatory-entitlementstatein the USA.And,on a
far moredisastrousscale,the mysticalgovernismof nineteenth-centuryGermanymeta-
morphosedinto the mysticalgovernismof the NaziReich.
In sum,nothingcan justifya philosophyor civilizationresultingin PeacefulChoice,
savefor an epistemologyof inductivereason.Volitionalreason—Homosapienssapiens’s
mostprominentevolutionaryadaptation—is whatprovidesus knowledgeaboutthe na-
tureof liberty.
NOTES
- W. Block1976,59-60,arguessuch.
- Rothbard1973b,106.
- A. Burris 1983 2d ed., 57
- W. Block1976,60.
- Thatsomeonecan be falselyconvictedof murderis alsothe reasonwhyI supporthavinga mora-
toriumon the deathpenalty.Shoulda manwronglyconvictedof homicidelaterbe exonerated,he can be
set free;a stateexecutionof an innocentmanis irreversible. - Undertort law,stalkingand harassmentcomeunderthe namesintrusionuponsolitudeor seclusion
(notedin B. Fisher 2004 8th ed., 265)andintentionalinflictionof mentalor emotionaldistress(ibid., 272).Note
that someonecan be successfullysuedfor inflictingmentaldistressonlyunderthe conditionthat suchan
inflictionis of an extremelyoutrageousanddevastatingnature,suchas harassment;onecannotsue
someonefor havinghis feelingshurtas a resultof somenormal,peacefuleverydayaction. - B. Fisher 2004 8th ed., 265.Sincebothidentitytheftand harassmentinfringeuponpropertyrights
thatare not necessarilytangible,it is fittingthattheyare bothclassifiedasinvasionsof privacy(seeB.
Fisherand Phillips 2004 8th ed., 265–66), privacybeingan intangiblepropertyright. - For descriptionsof the guildsystemfromthe MiddleAgesand EuropeanRenaissance,see Acemo-
glu and J. A. Robinson2012,187-88;and C. Webberand A. Wildavsky1986,243. - C. Biddle2011,26, also properlyjudgesdefamationto be an initiationof the use of force.
- I first readthis exampleand observationin G. H. Smith1989,tradepaperback,120–22.
- D. Harriman2010,153–54.
- In termsof AntoineLavoisier’s contributionsto liberty,his legacyis somethingof a mixedone.
Interestingly,he wasan investorin a businessknownas a tax farm.A tax farmis a privatebusiness,and
the monarchoutsourcesto the tax farmthe authorityto collecttaxesforcibly.In exchangeto the tax farm’s
services,the kingallowsit to takea pre-setpercentageof the lootfor itself.Becauseof Lavoisier’s co-
ownershipof a tax farm—alongwithLavoisier’s rejectionof the scientifictheoriesof the violentFrench
RevolutioninstigatorMarat—Marathad Lavoisierguillotinedin the FrenchRevolution.Thisis according
to Bodanis2000,29–30. Alsointeresting,Lavoisierwasa mentorto the entrepreneurand chemicalengi-
neerEleuthère Irénée Du Pontde Nemours,founderof the DuPontCompanyand son of the free-market
theoristPierreSamuelDu Pontde Nemours. - Bodanis2000,29–30.
- D. Harriman2010,154–56, 152.
- Thatquotation,in the originalFrench,is “Certainementqui est en droitde vousrendreabsurdeest
en droitde vousrendreinjuste.” Thatis in Voltaire1792,249–250.I usedthe Englishtranslationat http://
en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Voltaire#Questions_surl.27Encyclop.C3.A9die.281770-1774.29, accessed Satur-
day,June15, 2013. - B. Allen2006,xv.
- B. Allen2006,165, xv, 37.