ISBN : 9780190860745
Many people assume that what morally justifies private ownership of property is either individual freedom or social welfare, defined in terms of maximizing personal preference-satisfaction. This book offers an alternative way of understanding the moral underpinning of private ownership of property. Rather than identifying any single moral value, this book argues that human flourishing, understood as morally pluralistic and objective, is property's moral foundation. The book goes on to develop a theory that connects ownership and human flourishing with obligations. Owners have obligations to members of the communities that enabled the owners to live flourishing lives by cultivating in their community members certain capabilities that are essential to leading a well-lived life. These obligations are rooted in the interdependence that exists between owners and their community members, and inherent in the human condition. Obligations have always been inherent in ownership. Owners are not fr
Preface
Acknowledgments
Part I: Human Flourishing
Chapter One: Flourishing and Welfare
Part II: Ownership
Chapter Two: Ownership and Obligations
Chapter Three: Community and Communities
Part III: Obligations
Chapter Four: Intergenerational Communities
Chapter Five: The Complexities of Land Reparations
Chapter Six: The Right to Exclude
Chapter Seven: Expropriations and Eminent Domain
Chapter Eight: Of Buildings, Art, and Sperm: The Right to Destroy and the Duty to Preserve
Chapter Nine: Race and Property
Chapter Ten: Homelessness and Other Systemic Housing Problems
Bibliography
Index