The Non-Aggression Principle is the foundation of libertarianism. It forbids aggression, i.e., the initiation of force against others. While there are many different justifications for the NAP, the simplest argument is an appeal to commonsense morality: we should deal with other people through reason and persuasion rather than violence and coercion.
In his article “The Irrelevance of Responsibility,” Roderick Long presents an Aristotelian Golden Mean justification of the NAP. He argues that a flourishing human life requires striking a balance between the subhuman and the superhuman. Since reason is the essential human trait, a truly human life requires relating to others through persuasion. Dealing with others through force is subhuman; but refusing to use force against aggressors is superhuman. Thus the NAP—using force only in defense—represents a Golden Mean between the extremes of subhuman aggression and superhuman pacifism.
What follows is an excerpt from Long’s article (p. 119, 121-124). Keep reading...

Despite incredible advances in knowledge and technology over the past few decades,