The Myth of Property : Toward an Egalitarian Theory of Ownership

The Myth of Property is the first book-length study to focus directly on the variable and complex structure of ownership. It critically analyzes what it means to own something, and it takes familiar debates about distributive justice and recasts them into discussions of the structure of ownership. The traditional notion of private property assumed by both defenders and opponents of that system is criticized and exposed as a "myth." The book then puts forward a new theory of what it means to own something, one that will be important for any theory of distributive justice. This new approach more adequately reveals the disparate social and individual values that property ownership serves to promote. The study has importance for understanding the reform of capitalist and welfare state systems, as well as the institution of market economies in former socialist states, for the view developed here makes the traditional dichotomy between private ownership capitalism and public ownership socialism obsolete. This new approach to ownership also places egalitarian principles of distributive justice in a new light and challenges critics to clarify aspects of property ownership worth protecting against calls for greater equality. The book closes by showing how defenders of egalitarianism can make use of some of the ideas and values that traditionally made private property appear to be such a pervasive human institution. Contents......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 I. The Structure of Ownership......Page 26 1. What, If Anything, Is Ownership?......Page 28 2. Ownership and the Structure of the Economy......Page 41 II. Attempts to Justify Liberal Ownership......Page 58 3. Can Liberal Ownership Be Justified by Natural Rights?......Page 60 4. Liberty and Liberal Ownership......Page 80 5. Ownership, Markets, and Moral Desert......Page 97 6. Ownership and the Maximization of Utility......Page 111 III. A New Model of Ownership......Page 136 7. The Abandonment of Liberal Ownership......Page 138 8. Self-Ownership......Page 160 9. Toward an Egalitarian Theory of Ownership......Page 174 Notes......Page 198 Bibliography......Page 218 C......Page 228 I......Page 229 P......Page 230 T......Page 231 W......Page 232 Oxford University Press, USA Contents 12 Introduction 16 I. The Structure of Ownership 26 1. What, If Anything, Is Ownership? 28 2. Ownership and the Structure of the Economy 41 II. Attempts to Justify Liberal Ownership 58 3. Can Liberal Ownership Be Justified by Natural Rights? 60 4. Liberty and Liberal Ownership 80 5. Ownership, Markets, and Moral Desert 97 6. Ownership and the Maximization of Utility 111 III. A New Model of Ownership 136 7. The Abandonment of Liberal Ownership 138 8. Self-Ownership 160 9. Toward an Egalitarian Theory of Ownership 174 Notes 198 Bibliography 218 Index 228 A 228 B 228 C 228 D 229 E 229 F 229 G 229 H 229 I 229 J 230 K 230 L 230 M 230 N 230 O 230 P 230 R 231 S 231 T 231 U 232 V 232 W 232 ISBN-13:,9780195085945