During his speech at the Mises Institute, Judge Andrew Napolitano discussed “First Principles.” While they may vary between individuals, they should be guiding principles in life.

His full speech can be listened to at the link below.

What are first principles? At the most basic level, they are a set of moral codes that are followed in every day life. Don’t steal; don’t kill; treat others as you wish to be treated. Pretty basic, and universal. Look at all moral codes, religious or otherwise and you will find these and other principles to guide one’s life in a moral and ethical fashion.

These principles, to be universal, must be applicable to all parts of one’s life, private, public, even political. As a voluntaryist (or anarchist or libertarian - all three are interchangable in my mind) I believe it is of the highest importance that these principles form how I interact with others, regardless of their own first principles.

The most basic principle is “do no harm.” One can call it the “Non-Agression Principle” or the “Golden Rule” or anything else, but it entails not causing personal or property harm to another individual. The core of this is the understanding that each individual is an owner of property, whether just their own bodies, or material goods. Given this, each as an individual should expect others to not harm their property (i.e. hurt them bodily, steal or damage material goods, etc.) and in return, they do like wise. This is the foundation of what Judge Napolitano calls “Natural Law.”

Natural Law is the belief that the principle to do no harm is basic to all humanity and can not be violated or legislated. Any attempt to do so is immoral and illegal either personally or as a group of individuals that have formed a community of individuals. This means that if an individual has no right to do something to another individual, they can not petition a group of individuals to do it on their behalf. Observance of this natural law is at the heart of all peaceful societies, and violation of this natural law is at the heart of almost all States. It is important to understand that adherence to these first principles is the highest moral order that one can persue.

Each of us must find the first principles that ring true to our souls (or minds if you prefer) and spend our lives living by those principles and teaching them to others. They can only be voluntaryily adhered to as individuals and voluntaryily taught and accepted by others. To force adherence is to miss the point entirely.