Book Review: _Property and Justice: A Liberal Theory of Natural Rights_

Tags: Property Rights

06/19/2023 Journal of Libertarian Studies Charles Amos

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Book Review: _Property and Justice: A Liberal Theory of Natural Rights_

_Property and Justice_ presents a new theory of original acquisition out of which two applications are drawn: a defense of the commons and a defense of the right of necessity. Author Billy Christmas attempts to robustly link freedom to property and mostly succeeds. However, the work contains two serious flaws. First, his right of necessity allows some individuals to partly own others. Second, his theory of original acquisition permits far more conflict between individuals than the author admits, and adjusting the theory to overcome this problem ends up undermining freedom by implausibly allocating property rights.

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Charles Amos, "Book Review: <i>Property and Justice: A Liberal Theory of Natural Rights</i>," Journal of Libertarian Studies 27 (2023).

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