Non-aggression principle

The non-aggression principle has existed in various forms. A number of authors have created their own formulation of the harm principle which NAP supporters argue as a form of non-aggression principle as shown in the table below. == Justifications ==

The principle has been derived through various philosophical approaches, including: • Spirituality: The historical pedigree of the Non-Aggression Principle includes religious roots such as Taoism (as seen in sayings attributed to the sage Lao Tzu), Jain Buddhism (ahimsa), and Christianity (God's gift of free will). Such religions see ideas along the lines of the NAP as a spiritual duty or way of being associated with the will of the divine or the path of right conduct, above and beyond mere worldly concerns. • Consequentialism: some advocates base the non-aggression principle on rule utilitarianism or rule egoism. These approaches hold that though violations of the non-aggression principle cannot be claimed to be objectively immoral, adherence to it almost always leads to the best possible results, and so it should be accepted as a moral rule. These scholars include David D. Friedman, Ludwig von Mises, and Friedrich Hayek. • Objectivism: Ayn Rand rejected natural or inborn rights theories as well as supernatural claims and instead proposed a philosophy based on "observable reality" along with a corresponding ethics based on the "factual requirements" of human life in a social context. She stressed that the political principle of non-aggression is not a primary and that it only has validity as a consequence of a more fundamental philosophy. For this reason, many of her conclusions differ from others who hold the NAP as an axiom or arrived at it differently. She proposed that man survives by identifying and using concepts in his rational mind since "no sensations, percepts, urges or instincts can do it; only a mind can". She wrote, "since reason is man's basic means of survival, that which is proper to the life of a rational being is the good; that which negates, opposes or destroys it [i.e. initiatory force or fraud] is the evil." • Argumentation ethics: some modern propertarian/right-libertarian thinkers ground the non-aggression principle by an appeal to the necessary praxeological presuppositions of any ethical discourse, an argument pioneered by anarcho-capitalist scholar Hans Hermann Hoppe. They claim that the act of arguing for the initiation of aggression, as defined by the non-aggression principle, is contradictory. Among its advocates are Stephan Kinsella • Estoppel: Stephan Kinsella believes that the legal concept of estoppel implies and justifies the non-aggression principle. == Definitional issues ==

Abortion Propertarians/Right-libertarians who are pro-life and pro-choice both justify their position on NAP grounds. One question to determine whether or not abortion is consistent with the NAP is at what stage of development a fertilized human egg cell can be considered a human being with the status and rights attributed to personhood. Some supporters of the NAP argue this occurs at the moment of conception while others argue that since the fetus lacks sentience until a certain stage of development, it does not qualify as a human being and may be considered property of the mother. On the other hand, opponents of abortion state that sentience is not a qualifying factor. They refer to the animal rights discussion and point out the argument from marginal cases that concludes the NAP also applies to non-sentient (i.e. mentally handicapped) humans. Another question is whether an unwelcome fetus should be considered to be an unauthorized trespasser in its mother's body. The non-aggression principle does not protect trespassers from the owners of the property on which they are trespassing. Objectivist philosopher Leonard Peikoff has argued that a fetus has no right to life inside the womb because it is not an "independently existing, biologically formed organism, let alone a person". Pro-choice propertarian/right-libertarian Murray Rothbard held the same stance, maintaining that abortion is justified at any time during pregnancy if the fetus is no longer welcome inside its mother. Similarly, other pro-choice supporters base their argument on criminal trespass. In that case, they claim that the NAP is not violated when the fetus is forcibly removed, with deadly force if need be, from the mother's body, just as the NAP is not violated when an owner removes from the owner's property an unwanted visitor who is not willing to leave voluntarily. Libertarian theorist Walter Block follows this line of argument with his theory of evictionism, but he makes a distinction between evicting the fetus prematurely so that it dies and actively killing it. On the other hand, the theory of departurism permits only the non-lethal eviction of the trespassing fetus during a normal pregnancy. Pro-life libertarians such as Libertarians for Life argue that because the parents were actively involved in creating a new human life and that life has not consented to their own existence, that life is in the womb by necessity and no parasitism or trespassing in the form of legal necessity is involved. They state that as the parents are responsible for that life's position, the NAP would be violated when that life is killed with abortive techniques. Intellectual property rights The NAP is applicable to any unauthorized actions towards a person's physical property. Supporters of the NAP disagree on whether it should apply to intellectual property rights as well as physical property rights. Some argue that because intellectual concepts are non-rivalrous, intellectual property rights are unnecessary while others argue that intellectual property rights are as valid and important as physical ones. Force and interventions Although the NAP is meant to guarantee an individual's sovereignty, propertarians/right-libertarians greatly differ on the conditions under which the NAP applies. Especially unsolicited intervention by others, either to prevent society from being harmed by the individual's actions or to prevent an incompetent individual from being harmed by his own actions or inactions, is an important issue. The debate centers on topics such as the age of consent for children, intervention counseling (i.e. for addicted persons, or in case of domestic violence), involuntary commitment and involuntary treatment with regards to mental illness, medical assistance (i.e. prolonged life support vs euthanasia in general and for the senile or comatose in particular), human organ trade, state paternalism (including economic interventionism) and foreign intervention by states. Other discussion topics on whether intervention is in line with the NAP include nuclear weapons proliferation, human trafficking and immigration. Objectivist author Ronald Merill criticizes the anarcho-capitalist view of force. He states that the use of force is subjective, saying: "There's no objective basis for controlling the use of force. Your belief that you're using force to protect yourself is just an opinion; what if it is my opinion that you are violating my rights?" Pollution Prominent propertarian/right-libertarian thinkers such as Murray Rothbard considered pollution an act of aggression, mostly focusing on air pollution, though in absolute terms light pollution, sound, and anything that crosses a boundary into someone's property or person can constitute aggression. In order to avoid having mere existence violate the non-aggression principle, Rothbard, Nozick, and others proposed less strict positions. Nozick suggested that boundary-crossing is permissible up to a certain range as long as it is socially beneficial and compensation is paid for it. Rothbard suggested that a causal connection of objective harm needs to be demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt before prohibiting pollution. These approaches appear to contradict the non-aggression principle by enabling a permissible amount of harm. Anarcho-capitalists usually respond to this argument that this presumed outcome of what they call "coercive competition" (e.g., private military companies or private defense agencies that enforce local law) is not likely because of the very high cost, in lives and economically, of war. They claim that war drains those involved and leaves non-combatant parties as the most powerful, economically and militarily, ready to take over. Therefore, anarcho-capitalists claim that in practice, and in more advanced societies with large institutions that have a responsibility to protect their vested interests, disputes are most likely to be settled peacefully. Anarcho-capitalists also point out that a state monopoly of law enforcement does not necessarily make NAP present throughout society as corruption and corporatism, as well as lobby group clientelism in democracies, favor only certain people or organizations. Anarcho-capitalists aligned with the Rothbardian philosophy generally contend that the state violates the non-aggression principle by its very nature because, it is argued, governments necessarily use force against those who have not stolen private property, vandalized private property, assaulted anyone, or committed fraud. Taxation Some proponents of the NAP see taxes as a violation of the NAP, while critics of the NAP argue that because of the free-rider problem in case security is a public good, enough funds would not be obtainable by voluntary means to protect individuals from aggression of a greater severity. Geolibertarians, who following the classical economists and Georgists adhere to the Lockean labor theory of property, argue that private ownership of land violates the NAP, and therefore land value taxation is fully compatible with the NAP. Anarcho-capitalists argue that the protection of individuals against aggression is self-sustaining like any other valuable service, and that it can be supplied without coercion by the free market much more effectively and efficiently than by a government monopoly. Their approach, based on proportionality in justice and damage compensation, argues that full restitution is compatible with both retributivism and a utilitarian degree of deterrence while consistently maintaining NAP in a society. They extend their argument to all public goods and services traditionally funded through taxation, like security offered by dikes. == Support ==

Supporters of the NAP often appeal to it in order to argue for the immorality of theft, vandalism, sexual assault, assault, and fraud. Compared to nonviolence, the non-aggression principle does not preclude violence used in self-defense or defense of others. Many supporters argue that NAP opposes such policies as victimless crime laws, taxation, and military drafts. The NAP is the foundation of propertarian/right-libertarian philosophy. == Criticism ==

The NAP faces two kinds of criticism: the first holds that the principle is immoral, and the second argues that it is impossible to apply consistently in practice; respectively, consequentialist or deontological criticisms, and inconsistency criticisms. Propertarian/Right-libertarian academic philosophers have noted the implausible results consistently applying the principle yields: for example, Professor Matt Zwolinski notes that, because pollution necessarily violates the NAP by encroaching (even if slightly) on other people's property, consistently applying the NAP would prohibit driving, starting a fire, and other activities necessary to the maintenance of industrial society. The NAP has been criticized as circular reasoning and a rhetorical obfuscation of the coercive nature of propertarian/right-libertarian property law enforcement because the principle redefines aggression in their own terms. Philosopher Jason Brennan has written a critique citing Walter Block's definition of the non-aggression principle, arguing that the words alone do not seem to provide libertarians with a clear argument for freedom: Brennan argued that the non-aggression principle is a simple moral slogan and therefore difficult to persuade people. He pointed out that this principle can be interpreted in various ways depending on how the concepts of ownership and rights implied in it are defined, and that it is actually used in various ways among people in reality. Therefore, he argued that it is difficult to function as a clear guideline or implementation strategy for realizing an ideal liberty society. Critics argue that the legal rights approach might allow people who can afford to pay a sufficiently large amount of compensation to get away with murder. They point out that local law may vary from proportional compensation to capital punishment to no compensation at all. and defamation both constitute freedoms of speech and that boycotting, and noninvasive discrimination all constitute freedoms of association and that both freedoms of association and of speech are nonaggressive. Supporters also point out that prohibiting physical retaliation against an action is not itself condonement of said action, and that generally there are other, nonphysical means by which one can combat social ills (e.g., discrimination) that do not violate the NAP. Those threats would then constitute a legitimate limit to permissible speech. Because freedom of association entails the right of owners to choose who is permitted to enter or remain on their premises, legitimate property owners may also impose limitation on speech. The owner of a theatre wishing to avoid a stampede may prohibit those on her property from calling 'fire!' without just cause. However, the owner of a bank may not prohibit anyone from urging the general public to a bank run, except insofar as this occurs on the property of said owner. Political theorist Hillel Steiner emphasizes that all things made come from natural resources and that the validity of any rights to those made things depends on the validity of the rights to the natural resources. If land was stolen then anyone buying produce from that land would not be the legitimate owner of the goods. Also, if natural resources cannot be privately owned but are, and always will be, the property of all of mankind then NAP would be violated if such a resource would be used without everybody's consent (see the Lockean proviso and free-market anarchism). Libertarian philosopher Roderick Long suggests that, as natural resources are required not only for the production of goods but for the production of the human body as well, the very concept of self-ownership can only exist if the land itself is privately owned. Relative rather than absolute concept Consequentialist libertarian David D. Friedman, who believes that the NAP should be understood as a relative rather than absolute principle, defends his view by using a sorites argument. Friedman begins by stating what he considers obvious: a neighbor aiming his flashlight at someone's property is not aggression, or if it is, it is only aggression in a trivial technical sense. However, aiming at the same property with a gigawatt laser is certainly aggression by any reasonable definition. Yet both flashlight and laser shine photons onto the property, so there must be some cutoff point of how many photons one is permitted to shine upon a property before it is considered aggression. However, the cutoff point cannot be found by deduction alone because of the sorites paradox, so the non-aggression principle is necessarily ambiguous. Friedman points out the difficulty of undertaking any activity that poses a certain amount of risk to third parties (e.g., flying) if the permission of thousands of people that might be affected by the activity is required. == See also ==