Autonomy, Taxation and Ownership: An Anarchist Critique of Kant’s Theory of Property

  • Kory DeClark

Abstract

Property fundamentally affects liberty. When any two individuals occupy space in a finite area, the choices of one will, in principle, and usually in practice, limit the liberties of the other. For instance, if I am sitting in a public park, then you can sit anywhere you please so long as you do not want to sit in the very space I occupy, for I am already sitting there and you have no right to move me. But if, as it turns out, you own the park, then some would say you do have a right to sit in the space I currently occupy, for I have no right to be there. Property, by limiting the sphere of our available and legitimate actions, has this clear and elemental effect on liberty.

Keywords

Civil Condition Original Contract Rightful Possession Rightful Condition Hypothetical Consent 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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© Kory DeClark 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  • Kory DeClark

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