The Institution of Property

Abstract

The typical method of acquiring a property right involves transfer from a previous owner. But sooner or later, that chain of transfers traces back to the beginning. That is why we have a philosophical problem. How does a thing legitimately become a piece of propertyfor the first time?In this essay, I follow the custom of distinguishing between mere liberties and full-blooded rights. If I have thelibertyof doingX, then it is permissible for me to doX. But the mere fact that I am at liberty to doXleaves open the possibility that you might be at liberty to interfere with my doingX. Accordingly, liberties are not full-blooded rights, since my having arightto doXhas the additional implication that others are not at liberty to interfere with my doingX. When it comes to mere liberties, interference is not a violation. You can violate rights, but you cannot violate liberties.