Consequentialist libertarianism

Libertarianism

Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...

refers to the view that liberty leads to favorable consequences such as prosperity, efficiency, or peace, and for that reason should be supported, advocated, and maximized. It is contrasted with deontological libertarianism

Deontological libertarianism

Deontological libertarianism refers to the view that all acts of initiation of force and fraud should be opposed because they are always immoral regardless of the effects of engaging in them...

, also known as "natural rights libertarianism," or "libertarian moralism" which considers the initiation of force and fraud to be immoral, regardless of consequences. Some libertarians may have a conception of libertarianism that is a hybrid of consequentialism and deontology.

Unlike deontological libertarians, consequentialist libertarians do not necessarily see all cases of initiation of force

Initiation of force

The initiation of force is the start, or beginning, of the use of physical and/or legal coercion, violence, or restraint. This is to be distinguished from retaliatory force and violence...

 as immoral and never see it as inherently immoral. Rather, their position is that political and economic liberty

Economic freedom

Economic freedom is a term used in economic and policy debates. As with freedom generally, there are various definitions, but no universally accepted concept of economic freedom...

 lead to the best consequences in the form of happiness and prosperity, and for that reason alone it should be supported. Unlike libertarian moralists, who limit their advocacy to that which does not constitute initiation of force, consequentialists advocate actions they believe maximize liberty regardless of whether these constitute initiation of force.

Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...

, David D. Friedman

David D. Friedman

David Director Friedman is an American economist, author, and Right-libertarian theorist. He is known as a leader in anarcho-capitalist political theory, which is the subject of his most popular book, The Machinery of Freedom...

, Peter Leeson

Peter Leeson

Peter T. Leeson is BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism at the Mercatus Center, George Mason University He authored The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates, a book in which he uses rational choice theory to examine the economic conditions and incentives that influenced pirate...

, Jeffrey Miron

Jeffrey Miron

Jeffrey Alan Miron is an American economist. He served as the chairman of the Department of Economics at Boston University from 1992 to 1998, and currently teaches at Harvard University, serving as a Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard's Economics Department.Miron is an...

, Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig von Mises

Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises was an Austrian economist, philosopher, and classical liberal who had a significant influence on the modern Libertarian movement and the "Austrian School" of economic thought.-Biography:-Early life:...

 and Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich Hayek

Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...

are consequentalist libertarians.