Auberon Herbert

1838–1906

Nationality: English

Historical Period: The 19th Century

Auberon Herbert (1838-1906) was an English radical individualist who was influenced by the work of Herbert Spencer. With a group of other late Victorian classical liberals he was active in such organizations as the Personal Rights and Self-Help Association and the Liberty and Property Defense League. He formulated a system of “thorough” individualism that he described as “voluntaryism.”

Quotes from Auberon Herbert:

• Auberon Herbert on self-ownership and opposition to force
• Auberon Herbert on the use of force being a dangerous beast
• Auberon Herbert on the “magic of private property”
• Auberon Herbert on compulsory taxation as the “citadel” of state power
• Auberon Herbert discusses the “essence of government” when the veneer of elections are stripped away

Titles from Auberon Herbert:

• Author: A Plea for Liberty: An Argument against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation (1891 ed.)
• Author: A Plea for Liberty: An Argument against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation (LF ed.)
• Author: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State (1885)
• Author: The Right and Wrong of Compulsion by the State and Other Essays (1978 ed.)
• Author: Taxation and Anarchism: A Discussion between the Hon. Auberon Herbert and J.H. Levy
• Author: The Voluntaryist Creed and A Plea for Voluntaryism