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Auberon Edward William Molyneux Herbert (Highclere, 18 June 1838 – 5 November 1906) was a writer, theorist, philosopher, and member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, son of the 3rd Earl of Carnarvon, brother of Henry Herbert, the 4th Earl, and father of the 9th Baron Lucas. He promoted a libertarian philosophy (that several authors consider related to libertarian anarchism) and took the ideas of Herbert Spencer a stage further by advocating voluntary-funded government that uses force only in defense of individual liberty and property. He is known as the originator of Voluntaryism.
Anarchist William R. McKercher notes that Herbert was often mistakenly taken as an anarchist but a reading of Herbert's work will show that he was not an anarchist. (Freedom and Authority, p.i 199 and p.u 73) The leading British anarchist journal of the time noted that the Auberon Herbertites in England are sometimes called Anarchists by outsiders, but they are willing to compromise with the inequity of government to maintain private property. (Freedom, Vol. II, No. 17, 1888)
G. K. Chesterton wrote that Herbert Spencer really went as far as he could in the direction of Individualism, just as Karl Marx went as far as he could in the direction of Socialism. He left only the gallant and eccentric Auberon Herbert to go one step further; and practically propose that we should abolish the police; and merely insure ourselves against thieves and assassins, as against fire and accident. (Illustrated London News February 15, 1936, p.c 266.)
Auberon Herbert (1838-1906) was an English radical individualist who was influenced by the work of Herbert Spencer. With a group of other late Victorian classical liberals he was active in such organizations as the Personal Rights and Self-Help Association and the Liberty and Property Defense League. He formulated a system of “thorough” individualism that he described as “voluntaryism.”
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