Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 496. Matt Sands of the Nations of Sanity project and I discuss the possible interrelationship between his project and my The Universal Principles of Liberty. Recorded Aug. 14, 2026. Related The Universal Principles of Liberty Supplemental Principles | Kinsella’s Annotations and Commentary KOL442 | Together Strong Debate vs. Walter Block on Voluntary Slavery […]
[From my Webnote series] From “What Libertarianism Is,” in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston: Papinian Press, 2023), p25, n34: Often the question is asked as to what types of acts constitute or are sufficient for homesteading (or “embordering” as Hoppe sometimes refers to it); what type of “labor” must be “mixed with” a thing; […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 495. Lecture, “Rothbard’s Revolutionary Contract Theory,” “Liberté Tribute to Rothbard on his Centenary: Rothbard 100: A Legacy for Future Generations,” Sociedad de la Libertad Latam (SdL) (a Latin American think tank based in Lima, Peru) and the 5th American Youth for Liberty Forum (Aug. 12, 2026, International Youth Day; via […]
Dear Mr. Kinsella, Hope you’re doing great, and I wish you a great trip to Portugal! When you have a moment, I would greatly appreciate your guidance on how to think about doxing (the public disclosure online of private or personally identifiable information about someone without their consent). I have tried finding if you have […]
I found this unfinished draft article in a file. Not sure why I abandoned it. I would no doubt change the references now, but enclose it below in its unfinished state. Attention Minarchists: Mind Your Manners [incomplete draft, July 2008] by Stephan Kinsella For some time now, we anarcho-libertarians have put up with a great […]
Related Libertarian Music More Peace Music: White Flag Warrior Put Your Hands Up In The Air For Peace! Peace Art Justin Gaffrey Peace Art Judas Priest on the Surveillance State (Electric Eye) (2011) Libertarian Rush: Rush Concert in Madison Square Garden Since I got my first car with a cassette deck (a Ford Futura in […]
Someone asked me if I wanted to see an essay to provide feedback on it, based on a 4-page excerpt (below). My reply below, along with a Summary of his excerpt and the excerpt. Kinsella: No time. Re the excerpt I saw, a few quick thoughts: It seems like you have lots of disjointed and […]
Hey Stephan. Have you ever written about the legal concept of quasi-contracts? I tried searching on Google and couldn’t find anything. Kinsella: Not explicitly, except maybe on incidentally on occasion, see e.g. note 12 to The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract: “Alessandro Fusillo observed to me that Rothbard might not have been aware of the fact […]
[PFS Blog cross-post] Principled libertarians are anti-state because they favor property rights and oppose aggression. 1 This does not mean respect for rights, or the non-aggression principled is our “only,” or even the “highest,” “value”; 2 nor that we believe in “absolute” property rights, whatever that means. 3 It only means that we have a […]
From the Vault. Adapted and updated. From LewRockwell.com. Great song by Judas Priest from 1982, kinda prescient, re today’s Flock cameras etc. Related Libertarian Music More Peace Music: White Flag Warrior Put Your Hands Up In The Air For Peace! Peace Art Justin Gaffrey Peace Art Judas Priest on the Surveillance State (Electric Eye) (2011) […]
From PFS Blog 100 Years with Rothbard was held two weekends ago in beautiful Porto, Portugal, on Saturday, June 27, 2026, featuring and attended by a number of PFS members, including Professor Hoppe and Gülçin Imre Hoppe, Stephan Kinsella, Saifedean Ammous, Thomas Jacob, Greg and Joy Morin, and Alessandro and Domitia Fusillo. From the PFS […]
I noted what a great time I had at the recent Rothbard event in Portugal: Rothbard Takes Portugal: 100 Years with Rothbard: A Personal Account. Among the people I met there was Paul Kogos, a passionate libertarian and Catholic from Brazil. At dinner one night, I noticed his scapular so asked him about his Catholicism. We […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 494. This is my interview by Alex Buxeda of at Schweizer Monat [Swiss Monthly; linktree]; recorded June 22, 2026. Youtube shownotes: Stephan Kinsella, patent attorney, legal theorist, and one of the leading critics of intellectual property sits with Alex Buxeda to explore whether ideas can be owned. Starting from first principles, […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 493. This is my talk “Rothbard’s Greatest Hits: A Personal Mix Tape,” delivered at “100 Years with Rothbard,” Porto, Portugal, June 27, 2026 (iPhone audio). This was a simply wonderful event. As noted here, 100 Years with Rothbard was held yesterday in beautiful Porto, Portugal (June 27, 2026), sponsored by several Portuguese […]
In the most recent episode of the excellent podcast Divided Argument, “Watch Snobs” (June 14, 2026), at about 55 minutes, the hosts talk about an anomaly in the law where it is possible to commit murder and get away with it because of some quirks in our federal constitutional scheme. They refer to a 2005 […]
[Cross-posted at PFS Blog] This video, based on Christopher Ingraham, “Victory! Illinois Village Agrees to Let Laura’s Garden Grow After IJ Letter,” Institute for Justice Press Release (June 2, 2026), covers a recent “right to garden” case in Illinois involving a homeowner, Laura Schaefer, and the Village of Millstadt, Illinois (apparently a local government, as it has a […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 492. This is my interview by Matthew Geiger of the Carl Menger Institute for Menger Institute Podcast #6 (recorded June 11, 2026). Shownotes and transcript below. Related tweet: at 13:20, defending the late Millennials and early Gen Z against snide criticisms of their plight–living with their parents, working at Starbucks, playing video games, […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 491. I’ve known Paul Cwik, Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Mount Olive and fellow of the Mises Institute since I started attending the Austrian Scholars Conference in 1995. He is an Austrian and libertarian of sorts but had some qualms with my anti-IP writing so presented a […]
Posted at PFS Blog: I attended LNC2026 a couple weeks ago; what a sh*tshow. I ran for re-election for the Judicial Committee, on which I served the last 4 years; I was not re-elected. Good riddance. I’ll write up my experience with the LP over the last 4 years presently, but for now, a couple […]
[Cross-posted at Property and Freedom Blog] Related Murray N. Rothbard, “Confiscation and the Homestead Principle,” The Libertarian Forum 1, no. 6 (June 15, 1969): 3–4, available online at Panarchy and also in Murray N. Rothbard, ed., The Complete Libertarian Forum: 1969–1984 (Auburn, Ala.: Mises Institute; 2012) ——, “Massacre at People’s Park,” The Libertarian Forum (June […]
[From my Webnote series] Other: Libertarian Answer Man: What if all the land is already homesteaded? “prior-later distinction” search at StephanKinsella.com Libertarian Answer Man: Co-ownership and Ownership and Punishment of Criminals: LFFS, ch. 4, n.6, citing “Defending Argumentation Ethics” (LFFS, ch. 7), especially the section “Objective Links: First Use, Verbal Claims, and the Prior-Later…
Related Rights as Metanorms; Rights and Morals as Intersecting Sets Not as Subset of Morals The Universal Principles of Liberty Kinsella, Legal Foundations of a Free Society (2023) I’m never quite sure how to describe what it is that I do (my avocation, not my (former) vocation(s)). 1 Is it political theory? Political philosophy? Libertarian […]
Related Remembering Tibor Machan, Libertarian Mentor and Friend: Reflections on a Giant Machan, A Brief on Left Libertarianism—Is it an Oxymoron? (unpublished, 2009) As I mentioned in my recent post, Machan, A Brief on Left Libertarianism—Is it an Oxymoron? (unpublished, 2009), an odd gmail glitch recently placed an Aug. 12, 2009 email from Tibor Machan […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 490. This is my interview by Cody Cook (@CantusFirmusCC) of the Libertarian Christian Institute (@LCIOfficial), whose show I’ve been on previously, 1 and whose book, Faith Seeking Freedom: Libertarian Christian Answers to Tough Questions, I endorsed, to discuss my recent book Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment (2026). Episode: Rothbard at […]
Related Remembering Tibor Machan, Libertarian Mentor and Friend: Reflections on a Giant Hoppe, “A Realistic Libertarianism,” LewRockwell.com (Sept. 30, 2013) Vulgarism, Left-libertarianism, Taco Bell, and “Power” Left-Libertarians Admit Opposition to “Capitalism” is Substantive (April 22, 2010) Is Macy’s Part of the State? A Critique of Left Deviationists (Oct. 9, 2008) Should Libertarians Oppose…
[From my Webnote series] KOL418 | Corporations, Limited Liability, and the Title Transfer Theory of Contract, with Jeff Barr: Part II KOL414 | Corporations, Limited Liability, and the Title Transfer Theory of Contract, with Jeff Barr: Part I Corporate Personhood, Limited Liability, and Double Taxation “Classificationism, Legislation, Copyright” The Non-Aggression Principle as a Limit on Action,…
Dear Mr. Kinsella, I am writing to you from Iran, where I closely follow your work on libertarian legal theory. I would deeply appreciate your insights on a unique digital dilemma here that highlights the messy collision between property rights, state coercion, and a captive market. Amidst a total international internet blackout in Iran, a […]
[Cross posted at Propertyandfreedom.org] From The Editorial Board, “Old McDonald Had a Race Preference: A lawsuit settlement helps end discrimination at the USDA,” Wall Street Journal (May 22, 2026): One of the worst sources of race preferences has been the federal government, so cheers to the news that some discriminatory programs have been sent out […]
Note: I do not use Grok or AI to cheat or write for me, but only as a tool for research and assistance, summaries, and so on. Here is the summary of a Grok discussion I had trying to clarify some issues, so asked it to prepare the summary in the form of a blog […]
Related Extreme Praxeology Yuri Maltsev, R.I.P. Barry Smith on Artificial Intelligence Ontology The “Ontology” Mistake of Libertarian Creationists The Ontology of the Omniverse Gamrot, Labor as the Basis for Intellectual Property Rights: Against Cwik The Nature, Properties, and Characteristics of Goods (Igloo Coolers case) Gamrot, A Critique of Moore’s Intellectual Property Theory Robert Pascal…
Dear Mr. Kinsella, I wrote the same to prof. Hoppe and I hope to hear your opinion as well. My name is Augustin. In my research and pondering, I got stuck with a limit in the libertarian ethics that left the question of whether it truly permits the survival of mankind (as any ethic should […]
I’ve long been fascinated with scholarship and publishing, 1 and with the concept of a Festschrift ever since I came across Rothbard’s (see below). I became more interested in this when I helped produce Hans Hoppe’s first Festchrift in 2009. As I wrote recently in yet another such work (my Preface to the a recent Gedenkschrift […]
Q (lightly edited): Hi Stephan, This is [], teaching economics at a university in [China]. I love reading Hoppe’s and your articles and books. I am currently reading your great book Legal Foundations of a Free Society. The book From Partisan Banking to Open Access: The Emergence of Free Banking in Early Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts 1 tells […]
Related KOL337 | Join the Wasabikas Ep. 15.0: You Don’t Own Bitcoin—Property Rights, Praxeology and the Foundations of Private Law, with Max Hillebrand KOL249 | WCN’s Max Hillebrand: Intellectual Property and Who Owns Bitcoin Extreme Praxeology Max Hillebrand, The Praxeology of Privacy: Economic Logic in Cypherpunk Implementation (2026) Amazon description: The state cannot steal what […]
[Cross-posted at PFS and HansHoppe.com] Libertarians around the world are this year celebrating Murray Rothbard’s 100th birthday. At the PFS we published a book in his honor, Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment, Stephan Kinsella and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eds. (Papinian Press and The Saif House, 2026) on his 100th birthday, March 2, 2026. And next month, […]
[From my Webnote series] Related On Property Rights in Superabundant Bananas and Property Rights as Normative Support for Possession Libertarian Answer Man: Self-ownership for slaves and Crusoe; and Yiannopoulos on Accurate Analysis and the term “Property”; Mises distinguishing between juristic and economic categories of “ownership” Creative Common Law Project, R.I.P. and Waystation Libertarians…
Related Stephan Kinsella, “How We Come To Own Ourselves,” in Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023) [LFFS] Kinsella, “Law and Intellectual Property in a Stateless Society,” in LFFS, n. 27 Kinsella, “Defending Argumentation Ethics: Reply to Murphy & Callahan,” in LFFS, n31 KOL468 | Is Group Ownership and Co-ownership Communism? KOL443 | Abortion: A Radically…
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 489. “The Problem with Intellectual Property,” audio. Thanks to Jorge Besada, using AI. I think this is my best comprehensive, recent, yet concise take on IP. From Stephan Kinsella, “The Problem with Intellectual Property,” Papinian Press Working Paper #2 (May 15, 2025), forthcoming in Handbook of the Philosophical Foundations of Business Ethics, […]
[From my Webnote series] Related: On Bankruptcy in a Free Society Kinsella, The Title-Transfer Theory of Contract Libertarian Answer Man: Restrictive Covenants and Homeowners Associations (HOAs) Libertarian Answer Man: Restrictive Covenants, Reserved Rights, and Copyright KOL479 | Co-Ownership Revisited: Property Rights, Exclusion, Contracts, and Edge Cases, with Nick Sinard KOL354 | CDA §230,…
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 488. Audio version of Stephan Kinsella, “My Years with the Mises Institute,” Property and Freedom Journal (May 2, 2026). Audio prepared with AI by Jorge Besada. Related: Hans-Hermann Hoppe, “Mises Institute: Quo Vadis?: Postscript,” Property and Freedom Journal (April 17, 2026) Hans-Hermann Hoppe, “Mises Institute: Quo Vadis?”, Property and Freedom Journal…
Stephan Kinsella, “My Years with the Mises Institute,” Property and Freedom Journal (May 2, 2026) Related: Hans-Hermann Hoppe, “Mises Institute: Quo Vadis?: Postscript,” Property and Freedom Journal (April 17, 2026) Hans-Hermann Hoppe, “Mises Institute: Quo Vadis?”, Property and Freedom Journal (March 25, 2026) Audio: KOL488 | My Years with the Mises Institute Mises Institute Oral History Project:…
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 487. Also podcast as Property and Freedom Podcast, Episode 323. AI-assisted audio narration of the main chapters of Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment (Papinian Press and The Saif House, 2026) is available at this PFS Youtube Playlist; the mp3 files may also be downloaded in this zip file. The first two […]
Sean Gabb, Literary Essays, 2d ed. (Deal: Hampden Press, 2018 [2011]). An unrelated email search reminded me that I had provided an endorsement for this book back in 2011. From the Amazon description: This book sets out to answer the following questions: Why bother learning Latin? How did the Romans pronounce Greek? Should the Elgin […]
Related: Post-scarcity, Superabundance, Money, and Star Trek Space Cadets Petr Beckmann, Einstein Plus Two Einstein Plus Two and dissident material Tom Bethell, Questioning Einstein: Is Relativity Necessary? ——, Rethinking Relativity, and related links Tom Bethell, Relativity and the Priesthood of Science From a conversation with friends (not cleaned up and edited; just a rant): Discussing […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 486. This is my appearance on the Mark Edge show. Shownotes: Mark Edge invites libertarian legal theorist and retired patent attorney Stephan Kinsella to unpack the stunning April 1st memo from the Mises Institute announcing that Hans-Hermann Hoppe — their longtime Distinguished Senior Fellow and arguably the most important living […]
Jan. 8 1996. We moved to Philly in 1994 from Houston and lived in an apartment in beautiful Chester County, until wife insisted we buy a house. So in 1995 we bought our first house in Newtown Square, Delaware county. We were snowed in for a few days because of this crazy blizzard. I got […]
Cross-posted at PFS Blog. See Ludovico Lumicisi, “Rothbardian Property Rights in a Dangerous Digital World,” Mises Wire (04/11/2026) (reprinted below). This article won First Place in the Mises Institute’s annual Kenneth Garschina Undergraduate Student Essay Contest. I had corresponded previously with the author of this excellent paper. It cites and relies heavily on work by […]
Kinsella on Liberty Podcast: Episode 485. My recent appearance on The Brownstone Show, Ep. 17 (twitter video). From Brownstone’s shownotes: Jeffrey Tucker sits down with Stephan Kinsella…libertarian attorney, author of the seminal 2001 essay “Against Intellectual Property“, and the massive treatise “Legal Foundations of a Free Society“…for a provocative discussion on why defamation (libel and…
Interesting article by Ancap Joker, “Who owns my body?,” Substack (Apr 07, 2026). I paste it below with a few interspersed comments. I think it’s pretty good, basically in the right direction. I have a couple of suggested quibbles/slight changes. Who owns my body? Adam Haman? Ancap Joker Apr 07, 2026 After selling myself into […]
Stephan Kinsella, “Mises, Rothbard, Hoppe: An Indispensable Framework,” in Rothbard at 100: A Tribute and Assessment, Stephan Kinsella and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, eds. (Houston: Papinian Press and Property and Freedom Society, 2026) Related A Question of Authorship? (attribution) (re the section “Excursus: The Role of Ideas in Human Action”) Audio at KOL487 | Stephan Kinsella, “Mises, Rothbard, Hoppe:…