What do libertarian theories of justice advocate?

• A. Doctrines advocating equal distribution regardless of effort.
• B. Doctrines holding that the benefits and burdens of society should be distributed through the fair workings of a free market and the exercise of liberty rights of noninterference.
• C. Doctrines requiring centralized planning.
• D. Doctrines giving the government power to reallocate resources.

Answer: (B)

Libertarian theories of justice are built on preserving individual liberty and property rights, with the idea that a just distribution arises from voluntary exchange in a free market and minimal government interference. The focus is on whether holdings come about through fair processes—acquisition, transfer, and rectification—within a system that protects liberty rights and allows voluntary interactions. Because of this, distribution occurs through the fair workings of the market and the noninterference rights people hold, rather than through equal shares or centralized decisions.

The other approaches clash with this view: equal distribution regardless of effort proposes uniform outcomes not grounded in voluntary exchange or rights-respecting processes; centralized planning and government reallocation rely on top-down control that libertarians reject as coercive; libertarian theory fundamentally opposes broad government power to reallocate resources.