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I want to add something else. Up until now, Dee has been
able to define libertarianism for us, but her definition
has left something out. There are two distinct kinds of
libertarians: right-libertarians and left-libertarians.
Dee is on the right, and so are Nozick and Pilon.
On the left is another tradition, not as well known,
but with a long history of its own. One of its most
prominent representatives today is Peter Vallentyne.
Like Dee, Vallentyne believes in self-ownership and
uses it as a basis for strong individual rights. The
fact that people 'own' themselves implies that they have
extensive control over how they can be treated by
others. But, unlike right-libertarians, Vallentyne
doesn't move quickly from self-ownership to strong
property rights in natural resources. Instead, ownership
of natural resources is qualified by obligations to
non-owners. Here's a bit of what he says:
Left-libertarian theories of justice hold
that agents are full self-owners and that natural
resources are owned in some egalitarian manner.
Unlike most versions of egalitarianism,
left-libertarianism endorses full self-ownership,
and thus places specific limits on what others may
do to one's person without one's permission.
Unlike the more familiar right-libertarianism
(which also endorses full self-ownership), it
holds that natural resources -- resources which
are not the results of anyone's choices
and which are necessary for any form of activity
-- may be privately appropriated only with the
permission of, or with a significant payment to,
the members of society. ["Left-Libertarianism: A
Primer," p. 1]
You can see that there is actually some convergence
here between what John has been saying, what Catholicism
teaches about the common good, and what Vallentyne is
saying. Strong property rights come with moral
obligations.
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