(Return to main path )

Just a few quick comments.

First of all, I don't want people to think that utilitarianism leads straight to a libertarian view of property just because there are libertarians who make utilitarian arguments to support their views. Just the opposite. I think that utilitarianism leads to a much more flexible view -- one that opens the door for government regulation of property that is designed to promote the general welfare.

Second, I want to be clear that Dee and I might often agree on property rights. I am more than willing to agree that a free market very often promotes human welfare. Perhaps it sometimes maximizes human welfare. Whether it does so is an empirical question. We have to look and see.

But third, it is important to realize that for Dee, the fact that the free market promotes or maximizes human welfare is not the main reason she advocates the property rights she advocates. She is interested primarily in protecting certain liberties and the property rights based on them, not maximizing welfare. If those liberties lead to greater welfare, so much the better. But that's not her fundamental concern, whereas for me it is the fundamental concern.