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Property: Property is anything that is owned by a person or entity. It can be tangible, or intangible. Property rights give the owner the right to use, possess, and dispose of their property as they see fit. See also Rights, Duties, Contracts.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Liberalism on Property - Dictionary of Arguments

Gaus I 117
Property/traditional liberalism/Gaus/Mack: According to the liberty tradition, respect for the individual and her liberty requires respect for that individual’s control of extra-personal objects – tangible and non-tangible property – that she has acquired in ways that do not infringe upon others’ equal liberty (Lomasky, 1987(1): ch. 6; Mack, 1990(2)). Several related sub-themes are apt to be endorsed by members of the liberty tradition.
1) First, seizing another’s peacefully acquired holdings is itself a violation of her liberty.
2) Second, seizing the fruits of another’s labour or what a person has acquired through voluntary exchange of his labour or the fruits of his labour violates that person’s entitlement or desert (Gaus, 1999(3): ch. 8).
3) Third, a system that allows such seizures renders all other sorts of liberty insecure; secure private property is a background condition for a general regime of liberty (Gray, 1986(4): ch. 8). Fourth, secure private property is a background condition for economic prosperity. In general, the liberty tradition insists that freedom is only possible given the institutions of private property and the free market. Indeed, for some members of the tradition ‘liberty is property’ (Narveson, 1988(5): 66).

1. Lomasky, Loren E. (1987) Persons, Rights, and the Moral Community. New York: Oxford University Press.
2. Mack, Eric (1990) ‘Self-ownership and the right of property’. The Monist, 73 (October): 519–43.
3. Gaus, Gerald F. (1999) Social Philosophy. Armonk, NY: Sharpe.
4. Gray, John (1986) Liberalism. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
5. Narveson, Jan (1988) The Libertarian Idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Mack, Eric and Gaus, Gerald F. 2004. „Classical Liberalism and Libertarianism: The Liberty Tradition.“ In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications.


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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.
Liberalism
Gaus I
Gerald F. Gaus
Chandran Kukathas
Handbook of Political Theory London 2004


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