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 OK. So this
is my chance. Grrrrr.....all you lefties better
watch out!!! Elvis is in the building.
Seriously, I think there are several different
approaches that libertarians can take to
defending property rights at a fundamental
level.
- Some
arguments begin in the state of nature
(i.e., in the absence of government)
but do not involve making a contract
of any kind. These arguments do claim
that certain kinds of actions would be
morally permissible and certain moral
principles apply. Writers taking this
approach then try to deduce or justify
property rights. John Locke's
treatment of property in the state of
nature falls into this category. For
Locke there is no contract to create the
property rights that exist in the state
of nature. He relies in part on the idea
of a natural moral law that exists prior
to government. He also claims that
self-ownership justifies limited
property rights in natural resources.
But the state of nature can be
defined in different ways, and property
in the state of nature can be defined
and limited in various ways. In the 17th
century there were extensive debates
about these issues. Locke, Hugo Grotius,
and Samuel von Pufendorf were three of
the philosophers involved. Some
modern libertarian philosophers, including
Roger Pilon of the Cato Institute, have
argued for strong property rights in the
state of nature without invoking a
hypothetical or historical contract.
- Some arguments begin from the state of
nature or some other hypothetical
situation and attempt to show how a
contract or agreement might arise to
establish certain institutions and follow
certain rules. This is the 'contractarian'
approach that we have already seen in
relation to morals in general. It includes
the classic work of Hobbes and Locke plus
the modern work of Rawls, Gauthier,
Lomasky, Narveson, and others. I'm not
suggesting that all these people are
libertarians, but they are all in the
contractarian tradition. In Hobbes and
Locke the initial situation is called the
"state of nature." The modern writers use
other terms. For example, Rawls talks
about the "Original Position." Whatever it
is called, it is always an ideal
pre-political state in which people must
reach an agreement about government or
morals (including rights, of course).
Modern contractarians often make use of
techniques derived from game theory.
- Some arguments are utilitarian. They
stress the beneficial consequences of a
system of property rights.
I'm not going to rely much on utilitarian
arguments because there are too many problems
with utilitarianism in general.
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