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A libertarian is generally defined as one who does not believe it is proper for an individual to initiate force on others. This position is generally derived in two ways: from natural rights theory or from economic theory. The non-aggression axiom of libertarianism is a direct result of the natural condition of man: he has the right to act in whatsoever manner he chooses, as long as he does not infringe upon anyone else’s right to act as they choose. Perhaps the most eminent libertarian natural rights theorist was Murray Rothbard, who derived natural rights from the axiom of self-ownership in The Ethics of Liberty. Property rights are dear to libertarians, and in fact rights can be thought of solely in terms of property. You have the exclusive right to the use of your body and whatever property you properly own. As a corollary to the right to property, you have the right of free association and trade. But all rights can be nicely summed up by the non-aggression axiom, though critical thought is still needed to discover the proper ethics in various situations.
Although most libertarians believe in natural rights, some are libertarians through utilitarian economics. The preeminent utilitarian economist was Ludwig von Mises, who belonged to the Austrian school of economics. The Austrian approach is a non-mathematical approach to economics that uses the analysis of human action for its theory. Austrians take an uncompromising laissez-faire position, showing that intervention into the market will always have deleterious effects. The problem with the utilitarian approach to libertarianism is that we must define what we mean by "best." Though intervention might have all sorts of wacky effects in the market, why is it that this is unwanted? It might seem common-sensical that unemployment, for example, is a bad thing, but at some point we must interject our own personal values in judging whether an economic system is desirable or not.
The non-aggression axiom, taken to its logical conclusion, must lead to a completely stateless society. Government by its nature initiates force in order to fund itself, and the libertarian cannot ethically support any violation of anyone’s rights. If a government was only funded by voluntary contributions and did not wage war or imprison innocent people, the libertarian would have no problem with it. But then this would not be a government; it would be a private defense firm. A consistent libertarian is therefore an anarchist as well. The term anarchist might conjure up images of bomb-throwing Communists, so libertarians, to be exact, sometimes call themselves market anarchists, anarcho-capitalists, individualist anarchists, and any other number of labels.
There are many people who call themselves libertarians nowadays, though most of them are not true libertarians. Many of them are minarchists, who believe the state should be limited to a small number of functions such as defense, police, and courts. These libertarians generally have a high reverence for the U.S. Constitution, and are not totally consistent either because they have not thought through libertarian principles all the way or take a more utilitarian approach where they think the state is "best" for a couple of functions (even if they use natural rights rhetoric). Some people who call themselves libertarians are not even in favor of limited government and instead think the term applies to libertines.
The libertarian movement is young and likely to grow in influence. Most people who are libertarians rarely retreat into any other ethical philosophy, and the internet has provided a wealth of information for anyone who cares to see it. Libertarians tend to be energetic, intelligent, and committed to peace above all.
