In 1971, Harvard University philosopher John Rawls put forth an innovative argument for the welfare state, but today a new crop of thinkers invokes Rawls to justify a libertarian society. Their project is intriguing, but it is doubtful that these self-described “bleeding heart libertarians” can count on a Rawlsian framework to provide robust support for inviolable liberty.

Nicolás Maloberti is a fellow at Liberty Fund.
EconomistsEconomyFreedomGovernment and PoliticsLaw and LibertyPhilosophy and ReligionPolitical HistoryPolitical Theory
Other Independent Review articles by Nicolás Maloberti
Spring 2011 Government by Choice: Classical Liberalism and the Moral Status of Immigration Barriers
Winter 2009/10 The Squirrel and the State