Ambidextrous Lockeanism

Abstract

Lockean approaches to property take it that persons can unilaterally acquire private ownership over hitherto unowned resources. Such natural law accounts of property rights are often thought to be of limited use when dealing with the complexities of natural resource use outside of the paradigm of private ownership of land for agricultural or residential development. The tragedy of the commons has been shown to be anything but an inevitability, and yet Lockeanism seems to demand that even the most robust common property arrangements be converted to privatized units. This often motivates a move away from natural law in the moral analysis of property rights. I argue however that it is not the deontological nature of Lockean principles that are at fault, but rather the manner of their application. Lockean theory often exhibits a bias in favour of private property: assuming that only private property can protect one’s interest in autonomy, and therefore asserting that each individual has a power of private acquisition. Starting with a claim against interference however enables us to mould the appropriate property rights to each individual’s particular interest in autonomy. This sometimes leads to private ownership, but often leads to various forms of commons.

Reciprocal libertarianism

“…This is relevant also for Christmas (2018Christmas ( , 2021 and Long (2006). Indeed, see Christmas (2020Christmas ( , 2021) and Long (1998) for how libertarianism can ground forms of collective and public ownership. On Christmas' account, all property rights are applications of a natural right to not being interfered with one's non-interfering activity (Christmas, 2021).…”

“…This is relevant also for Christmas (2018, 2021) and Long (2006). Indeed, see Christmas (2020, 2021: chap. 4) and Long (1998) for how libertarianism can ground forms of collective and public ownership.…”

Against Kantian Statism

“…7;Wheeler 1980;Fressola 1981;Mack 1990;Steiner 1994, ch. 7;van der Vossen 2009;Christmas 2017;2019b;Brennan & van der Vossen 2018). The other account regards acquired property rights as normatively posterior to the state's legitimate authority; as a servant to macro level political values.…”

Ostrom, Floods and Mismatched Property Rights

“…A property mismatch occurs when a set of rights established to achieve certain ends leads to gaps in responsibility or conflict for some other interest or practice (c.f. Bradshaw and Leonard, this volume;Epstein, this volume;Ehrman, this volume;Lifshitz, this volume;Facemire and Bradshaw, this volume;Richards;this volume;Christmas 2019). They have been observed especially when the scale of human activities in a given territory fails to align with the scale of ecological activity (Yandle 2007;Cash et al 2006;Crowder 2006).…”