Steve,
I more thing I wanted to say. You write:
"If someone holds the POSITION of libertarianism, but
is a nihilist, and a subjectivist, they are still a
(small 'l') libertarian. Just as Joseph Stalin and Ayn
Rand were both atheists; and Nietzsche and Rand were
both egoists."
Most emphatically NO. To claim that one can be a
subjectivist and at the same time a libertarian (which
I will take to mean an advocate of individual
rights/non-coercive state) is to claim a
contradiction. In stating this, you are cliaming that
a subjectivist can at the same time be an advocate of
objective reality. Notice one of Rand's critiques of
Nietzche (actually it might have been NB's essay) is
that his egoism is not really egoism in the true sense
of the word, but rather an altered form of altruism.
One cannot just make a grab-bag of positions and
then say they accept all of the positions equally; and
thus can be considered an advocate of all the stated
positions. One must observe the philosophical
hierarchy. To the extent there are contradictions in
the specific positions, the most fundamental
philosophic principles/positions win. Contradictions
do not exist in reality--which includes the
philosophic content of one's mind. From the quote
above, your subjectivist is still a subjectivist, the
libertarian position will represent a contradiction to
his subjectivism.
Thanks,
Michael

__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com