Topics
Liberty & Rights
Individual rights, civil liberties, property, and autonomy in the face of coercion.
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Individual Rights: What They Are, Examples, and Why They Limit Power
Individual rights protect concrete persons from undue interference and work as limits on power under the rule of law.
fundamentalsCivil Liberties: What They Are and How They Are Protected
Civil liberties protect personal autonomy and the freedom to act with others. Understanding their safeguards helps distinguish a justified restriction from an arbitrary decision.
fundamentalsWhat Private Property Is and Why It Is Key to Freedom
Private property is not merely having things: it is the right to use, enjoy, dispose of and protect one’s own assets under general rules and due process.
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Explore subtopics
Individual rights
Ministerial Responsibility: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It Limits Power
fundamentalsPluralism: What It Is and What It Requires in a Free Society
fundamentalsOverlapping Consensus: What It Is and What It Does in Rawls's Political Liberalism
fundamentalsLiberal neutrality: what it requires of the state and what it does not mean
Civil liberties
Property
Privacy
Intimacy and Liberty: Why a Private Sphere Protects Individual Autonomy
fundamentalsInviolability of the Home: What It Protects, Scope, and Limits
fundamentalsThe Right to Intimacy: What It Protects and Its Limits
fundamentalsRight to Privacy: What It Is, What It Protects, and How It Differs from Intimacy
Autonomy
Conscience & expression
Natural law
Natural Law and Responsibility: Liberty, Duties, and Consequences
fundamentalsNatural Law: What It Is, How It Differs from Positive Law, and Why It Matters
fundamentalsNatural Rights: What They Are and Why They Matter
fundamentalsIndividual Rights: What They Are, Examples, and Why They Limit Power
Due process
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Related learning
Selected analysis
A Critique of Coercive Psychiatry: Autonomy, Medicine, and Power
A critique of institutionalized medicine and coercive psychiatry centered on autonomy, paternalism, consent, and limits on power over the patient.
opinionThe individual first: private property, liberty and the error of collectivism
Tolerance, property and moral responsibility only make sense if the individual comes before the collective.
analysisCuba, Che Guevara, UMAP, executions and due process
Che Guevara played a real role in early revolutionary violence; the UMAP camps extended a wider logic of forced labour, discipline and revolutionary citizenship.
Thinkers & works
Herbert Spencer: who he was, what ideas he defended, and why he still matters
Herbert Spencer was a 19th-century English philosopher and sociologist who tried to explain society through a general theory of evolution. His defense of individualism and a limited state places him close to classical liberalism, but his legacy requires nuance.
authorsGustave de Molinari: who he was and why he matters for classical liberalism
Gustave de Molinari was a radical classical liberal who pushed the defense of competition to an uncomfortable question: why should security remain in the hands of a state monopoly?
authorsFrédéric Bastiat: who he was and why he still matters
Frédéric Bastiat was a 19th-century French economist, journalist, and politician. His work turned the defense of free trade and the critique of legal privilege into clear, memorable arguments.