Neoclassical liberalism
Neoclassical liberalism,[1][2] also referred to as bleeding-heart libertarianism (BHL)[3] or the Arizona School liberalism,[1][4] is a libertarian political philosophy[4] and ideology that focuses on the compatibility of support for civil liberties and free markets on the one hand and a concern for social justice and the well-being of the worst-off on the other. Adherents of bleeding-heart libertarianism broadly hold that an agenda focused upon individual liberty will be of most benefit to the economically weak and socially disadvantaged.[5]
History
The first recorded use of the term "bleeding-heart libertarian" seems to have been in a 1996 essay by Roderick T. Long.[6] It was subsequently used in a blog post by Stefan Sharkansky[7] and later picked up and elaborated on by Arnold Kling in an article for TCS Daily.[8] Since then, the term has been used sporadically by a number of libertarian writers including Anthony Gregory[9] and Bryan Caplan.[10]
In March 2011, a group of academic philosophers, political theorists and economists created the Bleeding Heart Libertarians blog.[3] Regular contributors to the blog include Fernando Tesón, Gary Chartier, Jason Brennan, Roderick T. Long and Steven Horwitz.
Criticism
Critics of the bleeding-heart libertarian movement include economist David D. Friedman, for whom bleeding-heart libertarians "insist that social justice ought to be part of libertarianism but are unwilling to tell us what it means."[11]
See also
- Classical liberalism
- Classical radicalism
- Compassionate conservatism
- Distributive justice
- Geolibertarianism
- Neo-libertarianism
- Left-wing market anarchism
- Left-libertarianism
- Libertarian paternalism
- Lockean proviso
- Poverty reduction
- Radical centrism
- Gary Chartier
- Fred Foldvary
- Michael Munger
- Michael Otsuka
- David Schmidtz
- Hillel Steiner
- John Tomasi
Notes
- Brennan, Jason (2012). Libertarianism: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0199933914.
- Matt Zwolinski and John Tomasi, "A Bleeding Heart History of Libertarianism", April 2, 2012, Cato Unbound.
- Zwolinski, Matt (2011-03-03). "Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism". Bleeding Heart Libertarians blog.
- Neoclassical liberal philosophers, such as David Schmidtz, Jerry Gaus, John Tomasi, Kevin Vallier, Matt Zwolinski, and Jason Brennan all have a connection to the University of Arizona (cf. "On the ethics of voting" Archived 2018-09-07 at the Wayback Machine, 3:AM Magazine, January 14, 2013).
- "About Us". Bleeding Heart Libertarians.
- Long, Roderick (1996). "Beyond the Boss". Retrieved 2012-09-20.
- Sharkansky, Stefan (2002-06-01). "My Blog and Welcome to It". Retrieved 2012-06-16.
- Kling, Arnold (2003-09-29). "Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism". Archived from the original on 2012-05-19. Retrieved 2012-06-16.
- Gregory, Anthony. "Don't Privatize Plunder". LewRockwell.com. Archived from the original on 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2018-09-07.
- Caplan, Bryan. "Who's More Irresponsible?". EconLog. Missing or empty
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(help) - Henderson, David (2012-04-28). "David Friedman on Bleeding-Heart Libertarianism". EconLog. Missing or empty
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References
- Jeffrey Edward Green (2016), The Shadow of Unfairness: A Plebeian Theory of Liberal Democracy, Oxford University Press.
- Jason Brennan, Bas van der Vossen, David Schmidtz, eds. (2017), The Routledge Handbook of Libertarianism, Routledge: "Libertarianism and the Welfare State" by Matt Zwolinski.
Further reading
- Jeppe von Platz, "Absolute freedom of contract: Grotian Lessons for Libertarians", Critical Review 25(1), 2013, 107–119.
- Rob Reich, "Gift Giving and Philanthropy in Market Democracy", Critical Review 26(3–4), 2014, 408–422.
- Nicolás Maloberti, "Rawls and Bleeding Heart Libertarianism: How Well Do They Mix?", The Independent Review 19(4), 2015, 563–582.
- Otto Lehto, "The Limited Welfare State as Utopia: The Case for a Libertarian Basic Income", Presentation for the BIEN World Congress (Seoul, Korea, 2016).
External links
- Bleeding Heart Libertarians – The official blog
- Matt Zwolinski discusses Bleeding Heart Libertarianism with Reason TV
- New Libertarians: New Promoters of a Welfare State – A historical look at the development of (and ultimately a criticism of) Bleeding Heart Libertarianism by John P. McCaskey
- Instituto Mercado Popular – BHL Brazilian research institute (in Portuguese)