From: DavidCrespoUSA
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 6:50 PM
Subject: Inquiry: What is the difference between Natural Law and Personal Morality?
Dear Walter:
My name is David Crespo. I am a friend of your protege, Luis Rivera of South Florida. You and I met online when the Rothbardian Circle members were asking you the Jewish Question. Those were interesting times.
Last Summer, I took some time to read two of Rothbard’s books: For A New Liberty and The Ethics Of Liberty. I wanted to understand the philosophical foundation of libertarianism, so I read those two books for that purpose. My question pertains to the latter book, in the last two paragraphs of chapter 4 (Natural Law and Natural Rights). If Rothbard were still alive, I would have asked him. But Luis assured me that there exists today two economists with the same intellect as Rothbard, and that I should defer my question to them. Those two economists are you and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. Plus, I distinctly remember you saying recently in the Tom Woods show, and I quote, “I’m more than happy to be a carbon-copy of Rothbard.”
So with that shameless note, here is my question:
As Rothbard articulated in his book, The Ethics of Liberty, with our logic and reasoning, we are able to deduce or discover the laws of nature. In this context, he was talking about the laws of human nature. Natural Law, so to speak. From this discovery of Natural Law, we have the Non-Aggression Principle, self-ownership, natural rights (such as the right to life, liberty, and property), justice, etc.
This is the part that got me stumped:
“When we say that one has the right to do certain things we mean this and only this, that it would be immoral for another, alone or in combination, to stop him from doing this by the use of physical force or the threat thereof. We do not mean that any use a man makes of his property within the limits set forth is necessarily a moral use…
…we will contend that it is a man’s right to do whatever he wishes with his person; it is his right not to be molested or interfered with violence from exercising that right. But what may be the moral or immoral ways of exercising that right is a question of personal ethics rather than of political philosophy.”
– Murray Rothbard
Having a hard time figuring this out, I ask you the following:
What is the difference between Natural Law and Personal Morality? And if we discover Natural Law through logic and reasoning, how is personal morality discovered?
For Christ I stand,
David Crespo
P.S. You have my permission to publish my name. I am not one to complain about such trivial matters.
Dear David:
Thanks for your kind words. It is an honor to be mentioned alongside Hans Hoppe in this manner.
The way I see things, is this. There is libertarianism. Pretty much the non aggression principle (NAP), although there is more to it than that. It asks one question, and gives one answer. The question: under what conditions is violence against other people justified. The answer: only in defense against a prior initiation of violence against an innocent person or his property. Namely, libertarianism is a theory about just law: no murder, no theft, no rape, no threats of violence, no kidnapping, etc. As such, it is an aspect, a part, of overall morality, which asks and answers way more questions, including those. For example, should you study hard, be nice, honor your parents, keep your promises, are all part of morality, but outside the domain of the NAP.
Where does natural law come into play? It is an answer to not what are the implications of the NAP, but, rather, what is the justification of the NAP. There are other justifications too: A=A (the Randians), religious (God says obey the NAP), utilitarian (human welfare will be maximized if we all obey the NAP), etc.. My favorite is Hans’s argument from argument.
So, there is really no conflict between morality and natural law.
I hope and trust this is of help in your deliberations. Please give my best regards to my friend Luis, and accept them for yourself.
Yours truly,
Walter
2:49 am on May 11, 2020
