What does non-aggression mean?

While aggression means to violate another’s self-sovereignty, “non-aggression” means to refrain from such a violation.

Throughout the latter half of the 20th century, the political school of libertarianism laid out arguments as to why coercion and involuntary violence were not only unjust but contrary to productivity and to humanity’s potential. The fundamental tenet of libertarianism is the non-aggression principle (NAP).

The Legal Principle is, in its essence, no different to the NAP.

The emphasis in libertarianism on rights and on decision-making at the individual level, however, became an easy way to critique libertarianism, by both progressives and conservatives alike. While libertarianism’s claims are logically sound, its promise is, to many, unsatisfactory.

Live and Let Live’s Moral Principle addresses this gap in the communication strategy of freedom and peace. As for non-aggression, once someone, or a society permits someone to aggress, even for noble objectives, the doors are open to endless conflict over whose preferences are allowed to be imposed by force. Consistently applying the approach of non-aggression, that is the Legal Principle, to human interactions avoids this conundrum.

The proactive opposite of aggression, then, is voluntary association. This fosters peaceful cooperation.