By Wanjiru Njoya
Mises.org
August 21, 2026
Ludwig von Mises defended the principle of equality before the law as it was understood within the classical liberal tradition of "the eighteenth and the early part of the nineteenth century."
Eighteenth century liberalism rejected the notion of "a select class of privileged persons" who had special rights and freedoms. The fundamental purpose of equality under the law was to ensure that no group is granted rights solely by virtue of membership, rights that remain unavailable to those outside it.