S5 - Libertarianism

Question 1

What is libertarianism?

Answer 1

A just society is one whose institutions respect and protect the freedom of each individual.

Liberty > Government.

Question 2

What does libertarianism rejects?

Answer 2

• The welfare state, from a utilitarian point of view, based on the establishment of rules that aim to maximize the common good and the redistribution of wealth/income.
• And thus rejects paternalism, that is to say, laws that intend to protect people from themselves .
• Legislative moralism, which corresponds to the use of the coercive force of law to promote certain virtues.

Question 3

What does libertarianism proposes?

Answer 3

The minimal state:
* Ensures that contracts are respected
* Protects private property from theft
* Keeps the peace
* Argues that the free market should solve most issues

The idea of self-ownership as a moral cornerstone

At the heart of this ethical tradition:
* The notion of property
* The notion of contract
* The notion of consent (free and informed)

Question 4

What does libertarian think about taxes?

Answer 4

Taxes = forcing people to make charitable donations, against their will
* Taxes = forced labour (i.e., slavery!)
* Robin Hood = not such a good guy after all

Question 5

What are the limits of libertarianism?

Answer 5

• Economic inequalities are not inherently wrong if the distribution of wealth has been fair, BUT most inequalities today are not the result of a fair distribution of wealth; rather, they represent a perpetuation of power and domination structures.
• We own ourselves, our talents and the fruits of our labour, BUT we live in a society that privileges certain characteristics or skills over others. Thus, our success is rarely due only to ourselves or our efforts.

Question 6

What does John Locke thinks about the right to property? What is included in ownership right?

Answer 6

Property rights are necessary for the foundation of a just (i.e., democratic) society.

It includes:
- The right to use and control the use of the property; the right to repossess if necessary
- The right to profit from property (e.g., mining rights, a harvest, milk and flocks from a herd, electricity produced by a wind turbine)
- The right to destroy (e.g., consume), the right to transfer property for money (sale) or another type of consideration (barter), or free of charge (donation, legacy)

Question 7

Are rights to property absolute?

Answer 7

Property rights are not absolute.
* In most countries, these rights come with responsibilities and limits. For example, the use of our property must not harm or cause harm to others.
* The connection between the individual and their property is assumed to be direct. Thus, it “takes care” of it to ensure its maintenance and / or growth

Question 8

What kind of ethical problems comes with AI?

Answer 8

AI needs Big Data: to train algorithms we need huge amount of data

Collecting, storing, using database pose lots of ethical problems:
* Consent
* Privacy
* Security
* Wrongful usage of data (e.g., threat to democracy, manipulation of opinions)

Accountability: who is responsable for AI decision-making?

Biases and discrimination
* Programmed biases
* Learned biases