Abstract

Libertarian thought and antecedent forms of classical liberalism have often accorded centrality to a cluster of ideas derived from John Locke (1689): that individual rights in general and property rights in particular are moral or “natural,” finding their justification and authority outside or prior to their recognition by political or legal actors; that political, coercive government derives its legitimacy from the (often tacit or imputed) consent of the governed; that such consent is given (if at all) for the purpose of the protection of those prior rights; and thus political governing bodies may therefore not violate individual rights without losing their legitimacy.