Re: Using Austrian Economists and Libertarians interchangeably (Seeking Assistance)

Jonathan M. F. Catalán — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:52:14 GMT

I agree that the terms "Austrian" and "Libertarian" are not interchangeable. An "Austrian" economist, I think, falls under the category of scientist, and you are right that Austrians do not necessarily have to be libertarians (although, Austrians generally are libertarians, because if one were to follow Austrian theory it would suggest libertarian policy). Libertarians, on the other hand, are not necessarily scientists, but followers of a specific set of ethics or morals. Although I risk re-starting the debate on whether or not ethics is a science, or whether Austrian economics and ethics are entirely integrated, I believe that science versus philosophy is the major difference between an Austrian and a libertarian.

Not all libertarians are minarchists, not all are anarchists, and many are neither of the two. So, libertarian and minarchist, and libertarian and anarchist, are just as interchangeable as libertarian and austrian (well, I would argue that they are less interchangeable, due to a point that I will make next).

When interchanging these terms in writing, I think it really depends on the audience you are reaching out to and the context of the sentence. I don't think that you would receive any criticism when interchanging "libertarian" and "Austrian", or "Austrian" and "free-market libertarian", in an article for Mises.org. On the other hand, if you are writing an article for a libertarian, but non-Austrian (maybe something similar to Cato), then "libertarian" does not necessarily translate into "Austrian" (although, "Austrian" may still translate into "libertarian"). Audience is important, because each audience may interpret words differently (as you suggest, when you say that you do not consider minarchists true libertarians—something I would disagree with, largely because I may be considered a minarchist)

I hope I'm making sense.

Using Austrian Economists and Libertarians interchangeably (Seeking Assistance)

Jeremiah Dyke — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:08:27 GMT

I know that Austrian Economics does not imply libertarianism, since only one is a value system, yet i still tend to use the two interchangeably. Given this, i still speak of libertarianism in a sense of anarchy and mini-archy, though I believe the term only rightly belongs to the former.

Is this sloppiness of terminology counter-productive?

The reason I ask is that in one of my current writings I am relating other schools of economic thought with the victimless-criminal who is happy with the fact that the law enforcer merely loosens the handcuffs, versus demanding that he remove them. I tend to want to use Austrians as the beacon of free-markets, yet, Austrians need not be free-market anarchists. Many of them are mini-arcchists. Or, in theory, may not even be a libertarian. How do I correct my terms here?

Political Theory

Re: Using Austrian Economists and Libertarians interchangeably (Seeking Assistance)

Using Austrian Economists and Libertarians interchangeably (Seeking Assistance)