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| On Property |
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Sidgwick Speaking
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That was a nice summary.
Now I would like to make just a few comments on
some of the basic differences that have emerged.
- The first difference is between those
who believe in natural rights of
property and those who believe that all
property rights are created by the
state. We might call them conventional
rights.
Dee believes in natural rights to
property. She also believes that those
rights continue to exist in political
society. As a result, government is very
limited. It must continue to respect
those rights. For a utilitarian like
Ann, there are no natural rights and
therefore government cannot be required
to respect them. Instead, all property
rights are conventional. They are the
creature of government and should be
designed to maximize human welfare.
John agreed with Dee that people have a
natural USE right to natural resources
in the state of nature, but he rejected
her arguments for stronger exclusive
ownership rights even if the Lockean
proviso is not fulfilled. If the proviso
is not met, he would look to the state
to define property rights. For John, the
concept of "legitimate government" is
crucial. If government is legitimate,
then we should respect the property
rights is creates.
- The second difference is between those
who believe that the rights of property
are universal and those who believe that
they are contingent on current
conditions. Dee's arguments have a
universal quality about them. Since they
are not consequentialist arguments, they
have little connection with local
conditions and apply everywhere. For
some of John's arguments, and all of
Ann's, the justification for property
depends on empirical consequences, and
those consequences depend on local
conditions.
- The third difference is between those
who think that property owners have
minimal obligations to non-owners.
Again, Dee sees property owners as
having no special obligations to
non-owners. As long as property was
acquired properly and passed from owner
to owner properly, the owners have a
very broad range of control and there is
no additional obligation to non-owners.
John and Ayesha have consistently argued
that owners have an obligation to the
common good that is built into the basic
justification of private property.
- A fourth difference is between those
who rely on their theology to ground
human rights and those who do not.
Ayesha and Fred see the image of God in
human beings. It is for that reason that
people have value and rights.
- A final difference is between Vera and
everyone else. Vera rejects moral
'foundations' of the traditional sort,
including God, natural law, pure reason,
and hypothetical contract. She
emphasizes the role of human choice in
the construction of moral systems. She
reminds me of the existentialists of the
1960s.
I think it should be clear that these differences have profound
implications for the role of government and
the modern welfare state. If Dee is correct,
the welfare state is a thief that takes from
owners in order to give to others. It is
basically without justification. If John and
Ayesha are correct, then owners always have
obligations to the common good. The welfare
state can be seen as a mechanism for
fulfilling those obligations in a systematic
way.
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