Abstract
The principle that each person is his own property occupies an almost axiomatic status in right-wing liberal thought as well as in some egalitarian theories. I reject any, full or partial, notion of property with respect to oneself by showing that any appeal and any justifiability which may be associated with self-ownership can 'at most' serve to ground rights which are demonstrably nonproperty rights. As a contrast to self ownership, I introduce the nonproprietarian notion of original freedom. I compare the two with respect to the control, income, and transfer aspects of ownership and suggest that original freedom is the more intuitively acceptable.
Original language | American English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1-23 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | Social Theory and Practice: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal of Social Philosophy |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 1 |
State | Published - 2000 |
Keywords
- FREEDOM
- OWNERSHIP
- SELF
- SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY