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Let me add some background here and also go beyond the point I made about contractarianism.

A series of writers over the last 40 years have criticized certain traditional kinds of ethical theories and offered an alternative that they describe as an ethic of care. Much of this work began with the writings of the psychologist Carol Gilligan. Gilligan published In A Different Voice in 1982. In it she discussed differences between the moral development of boys and girls. It was characteristic of the boys to formulate and apply universal rules. The rules could be used to settle disputes. The girls, on the other hand, placed less emphasis on universal rules and more on maintaining a network of relationships and satisfying the needs of all those in the network. Several feminist philosophers followed up on this insight, including Nel Noddings, Virginia Held, Sara Ruddick, and others.

We can apply this approach to ethical theory. The theories developed by many men -- whether they be natural law theorists, utilitarians, or contractarians -- stress universal rules and impartiality. The modal person in these theories is assumed to be fully competent and independent. The ethics of care puts the emphasis elsewhere. It focuses on particular situations and the needs of particular people. It stresses the specific relationships in which we find ourselves as mothers, fathers, neighbors, and so on. It also attempts to address the case of those who are less than fully competent and less than fully independent.

If we take the approach of the care theorists, we may find ourselves rejecting the search for universal principles of justice and, with it, rigid property rights. Instead, we may find ourselves responding to the needs of particular people in particular situations. What are we to do when faced with the demands of property rights on the one hand and the needs of a poor woman with children to care for on the other?

If we focus on caring for our relationships with other people and supplying the needs of everyone, we may find ourselves rethinking the rights of property in new ways.