Rothbardian/Libertarian
Moral Classification
of Behaviors
| Behavior Morally Indeterminate Lacks information to know if it is right or wrong to perform |
Aggression Criminally Wrong* If and only if it constitutes an initiation of force or threat of it |
Not Aggression Morally Permissible† Does not initiate force or threat of it (nor is a force substitute) |
|---|---|---|
| Kill | Murder | Killing in self-defense or assisted suicide |
| Beat up someone | Assault | Beating in self-defense or consensual contact sport |
| Penetrating another or having sex with another | Rape | Penetrating during self-defense or consensual sex |
| Taking what appears to belong to another | Theft | Retrieving stolen goods* or after consensual exchange |
| Being on the property of another | Trespass | Rectifying wrongdoing or by permission of owner |
| Coercion | Aggression by Coercion e.g. Extortion, Slavery |
Rectification by Coercion Coercion to rectify wrongs |
* Criminality may be rectfied using proportional coercion or violence against the aggressor.
† Permissible means that it is not morally wrong to do, but is not a mandatory duty either.
Key Definitions:
Aggression - the initiation of nonconsensual interpersonal force or the threat of it, understood to include the force substitutes of fraud and theft by stealth.
Coercion - compelling another to obey by threat of violence.
Violence - the use of physical interpersonal force.
See an analogous table which uses Mark Passio's terminology.
