Robert Lamb - Property

1 Series title

2 Title page Property Robert Lamb polity

3 Copyright page Copyright page Copyright © Robert Lamb 2021 The right of Robert Lamb to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2021 by Polity Press Polity Press 65 Bridge Street Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK Polity Press 101 Station Landing Suite 300 Medford, MA 02155, USA All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1919-4 ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-1920-0 (pb) A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Typeset in 10.5 on 12 pt Sabon by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NL Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. For further information on Polity, visit our website: politybooks.com

4 Dedication Dedication For Lawrence

5 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements I am very grateful to George Owers at Polity for first suggesting (in late 2015) that I write this book and for being – along with Julia Davies – supportive and patient as I followed the established academic convention of missing multiple agreed deadlines. I am not in the habit of missing more than one such deadline, but the last four years have been very hectic. Thanks are due to various colleagues and family members, but particularly to whomever developed the ‘out-of-office’ email message that helped me keep some time to myself during my tenure as head of department, enabling me to make (slow) progress on the manuscript. Much of what I have learned about property over the years has come from conversations with other scholars. Many of these conversations were at stimulating workshops organised by Chris Pierson, through the Political Studies Association’s ‘Politics of Property’ specialist group that he led so brilliantly. The comments I received on the manuscript from the three anonymous referees (and from three others on the original proposal) were very useful, including objections from one overwrought libertarian critic, which helped persuade me that I was on broadly the right track. Ross Carroll provided valuable comments on the text towards the very end of its composition and I benefited from the excellent copy-editing of Tim Clark. While writing a book that is essentially an introduction to its subject, I have had in mind the two teachers who first introduced me to political philosophy as an undergraduate – Gabriella Slomp and Kevin Francis – with such infectious passion and enthusiasm. Most importantly, as well as providing her typically piercing thoughts on the manuscript, Sarah Drews Lucas helped keep me loved (and sane) as the last years have flown by. This book is dedicated to our son, who was born this week, amidst a global pandemic. R. L. Exeter, April 2020

6 Introduction: What is Property? Contesting concepts An historical approach to the concept of property Structure of the book Notes

7 1 The Case against Private Property Jean-Jacques Rousseau Proudhon and the anarchist case against property Socialism and the idea of life without private ownership Conclusion Notes

8 2 Libertarianism and the Natural Right to Property The inviolability of property rights Property and freedom The concept of self-ownership The legacy of Locke Notes

9 3 Natural Law and the Gnarled Roots of Self-Ownership The role of theology in natural law theories of property Back to Nozick Redistributive libertarianism Conclusion Notes

10 4 Property for the Greater Good: Utilitarian Theories of Ownership Utilitarianism as normative political theory Hume and the emergence of property The utilitarianisms of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Evaluating the utilitarian theories of property Conclusion Notes

11 5 Ownership as Will in the World: Hegel’s Account of Property Property as freedom Moments of ownership Property and poverty: the problem of ‘the rabble’ Conclusion Notes

12 6 Property within Justice: Rawls and Beyond Rawls on the right to private property Property and distributive justice Property-owning democracy and the concept of predistribution Conclusion Notes

13 Conclusion

14 Bibliography

15 Index

16 End User License Agreement

1 Cover

2 Contents

3 1 The Case against Private Property

1 ii

2 iii

3 iv

4 v

5 viii

6 ix

7 x

8 1

9 2

10 3

11 4

12 5

13 6

14 7

15 8

16 9

17 10

18 11

19 12

20 13

21 14

22 15

23 16

24 17

25 140

26 18

27 19

28 20

29 21

30 22

31 23

32 24

33 25

34 26

35 27

36 28

37 29

38 30

39 31

40 32

41 33

42 141

43 34

44 35

45 36

46 37

47 38

48 39

49 40

50 41

51 42

52 43

53 44

54 45

55 46

56 47

57 48

58 49

59 50

60 51

61 52

62 53

63 54

64 55

65 56

66 57

67 58

68 59

69 60

70 61

71 62

72 63

73 64

74 65

75 66

76 67

77 68

78 69

79 70

80 71

81 72

82 73

83 74

84 75

85 142

86 143

87 76

88 77

89 78

90 79

91 80

92 81

93 82

94 83

95 84

96 85

97 86

98 87

99 88

100 89

101 90

102 91

103 92

104 93

105 94

106 95

107 96

108 97

109 98

110 99

111 100

112 101

113 102

114 103

115 104

116 105

117 106

118 107

119 108

120 109

121 110

122 111

123 112

124 113

125 114

126 115

127 116

128 117

129 118

130 144

131 119

132 120

133 121

134 122

135 123

136 124

137 125

138 126

139 127

140 128

141 129

142 130

143 131

144 132

145 133

146 134

147 135

148 136

149 145

150 137

151 138

152 139

153 146

154 147

155 148

156 149

157 150

158 151

159 152

160 153

161 154

162 155

163 156

164 157

Robert Lamb

polity

Copyright © Robert Lamb 2021

The right of Robert Lamb to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2021 by Polity Press

Polity Press

65 Bridge Street

Cambridge CB2 1UR, UK