Murray N. Rothbard vs. the Philosophers - Ludwig von Mises Institute

MURRAY N. ROTHBARD VS. THE PHILOSOPHERS: UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS
18 ON HAYEK, MISES, STRAUSS, AND POLYANI
even to the point of preferring equal poverty for all; still others
could be nihilistic and desire a scarcity of goods or could
complain about the excessive well-being of our society and
its waste of resources. Some might have a short-term interest
linked to interventionist policies and desire positions of
power within the bureaucracy. These various possibilities
contradict Mises’s conviction that all supporters of state
intervention will become supporters of the free market once
they have grasped the logical consequences of a reduction in
market freedom.
Rothbard’s intention is to make his own argumentation
in support of freedom more persuasive. 24 Anyone who
understands all the benefits to be derived from the free market—well-being,
peace, and cooperation—and is still
against it, must address an argument of an ethical nature.
According to Rothbard, this would be an objective and
rational argument. He finds in natural law a guide to enable
us to understand what are the best ends for man, i.e., what
ends are in accordance with human nature. He writes, “The
natural law . . . elucidates what is best for man—what ends
man should pursue that are most harmonious with, and best
tend to fulfill, his nature.” 25
The Aristotelian/Thomist formulation of the idea of a natural
law plays a very important role in Rothbard’s theory, which
takes up the idea of an order of natural laws that can be uncovered
by reasoning:
24In Power and Market Rothbard expresses some uncertainties
about a position attempting to defend freedom solely on the basis of
value-free positions—an attempt lacking any persuasive force for
those who intend to impose their own values by coercion and who
persist in their intentions even when they have been shown the probable
disastrous economic consequences of abandoning the free-market
economy. See Power and Market (Menlo Park, Calif.: Institute
for Humane Studies, 1970), p. 209.
25Rothbard, The Ethics of Liberty, p. 10.