Ultimately, the objective benefits of living in society are all benefits of living in peaceful association with others. The attempt to acquire values by the initiation of force is therefore ultimately self-destructive. Indeed, one cannot obtain objective values through this method, except by sacrificing or endangering still higher objective values, including one's freedom and hence one's life. Our examination of the praxeological consequences of intervention illustrates the practical import of this moral principle, enabling us to see it as more than a floating abstraction. In fact, a praxeological approach was required to develop properly the concept of force (p. 4.5:8), as well as such related concepts as property (pp. 4.5:13-5). Our praxeological analysis also differentiated between initiated and defensive force (pp. 4.11:2-5). The principle of freedom requires that an individual refrain from initiated force and its equivalents in a social context. As we shall see later, even defensive force must be subject to objective ethical limits.      Next page
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