Self-ownership and the labour theory of property acquisition

The principle that persons are entitled to the fruits of their labour is a central facet of both libertarian and Marxist theories, as well as a commonly shared intuition in political debate. It is often derived from self-ownership. This thesis argues that such a derivation is invalid because it rests upon an equivocation of the concept of ownership. It is possible that persons have certain ‘property relations’ to themselves, but not others: the right to possess and manage themselves, but not a full right to the income generated by their assets or capital value. The thesis defends such a non-libertarian view of self-ownership. A qualified version of the labour theory of property acquisition can be saved by appealing not directly to self-ownership but to the related argument from personal identity, which says that actors have a personal connection to their labour, which generates a prima facie right to the fruits of one’s labour. Combined with desert considerations that arise due to...Show moreThe principle that persons are entitled to the fruits of their labour is a central facet of both libertarian and Marxist theories, as well as a commonly shared intuition in political debate. It is often derived from self-ownership. This thesis argues that such a derivation is invalid because it rests upon an equivocation of the concept of ownership. It is possible that persons have certain ‘property relations’ to themselves, but not others: the right to possess and manage themselves, but not a full right to the income generated by their assets or capital value. The thesis defends such a non-libertarian view of self-ownership. A qualified version of the labour theory of property acquisition can be saved by appealing not directly to self-ownership but to the related argument from personal identity, which says that actors have a personal connection to their labour, which generates a prima facie right to the fruits of one’s labour. Combined with desert considerations that arise due to the positive moral value from contributing to the world through labour, this can become an actual right. Such desert considerations should track responsibility in accordance with luck egalitarian principles.Show less

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Self-ownership and the labour theory of property acquisition