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  • Morgan 6 Material Property As An Extension of Self-Ownership

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    Spencer Morgan
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    Spencer morgan: for a society to be said to be one of "liberty," it must honor rights. He says the notion of rights is an essential foundation for humans to deal with one another. Rights give rise to another concept, which is that of trade or exchange, he says. Morgan says we must examine the "ownership" condition of the materials of nature.

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    Morgan 6 Material Property as an Extension of Self-Ownership

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    Spencer morgan: for a society to be said to be one of "liberty," it must honor rights. He says the notion of rights is an essential foundation for humans to deal with one another. Rights give rise to another concept, which is that of trade or exchange, he says. Morgan says we must examine the "ownership" condition of the materials of nature.

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    5 views2 pages

    Morgan 6 Material Property As An Extension of Self-Ownership

    Uploaded by

    Spencer Morgan
    Spencer morgan: for a society to be said to be one of "liberty," it must honor rights. He says the notion of rights is an essential foundation for humans to deal with one another. Rights give rise to another concept, which is that of trade or exchange, he says. Morgan says we must examine the "ownership" condition of the materials of nature.

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    Material Property as an Extension of Self-Ownership

    bySpencerMorgan
    Sofarwevedefinedlibertyasaconditionofwidespreadindividual,personal,selfdeterminationthroughthe objectiveapplicationofthenotionofrights.Forasocietytobesaidtobeoneoflibertyitmust,ingeneral, operatesothatthosebarriersarehonored.Nosocietyhasdonesoperfectly,andalmostallhavetoa greaterorlesserdegreelegitimizedandinstitutionalizedtheviolationofthosebarriers.InlatercolumnsIwill examinehowtoapplythisconceptofrightstosociety(anaggregationofindividualhumans)andwhatthe applicationofrightsimpliesaboutgovernments. Fornowitisenoughtounderstandthattheideaofrights,orbarrierstoapersonsactionthatexistbyvirtue ofothersselfownership,isanessentialfoundationforhumanstodealwithoneanother.Thisuniversally applicableconceptallowspeopletointeractwithoneanotherinproductiveandmutuallybeneficialways. Thisgivesrisetoanotherconcept,whichisthatoftradeorexchange,butbeforewecanexaminethat conceptwemustfirstexaminethenotionofmaterialproperty. Wevealreadyestablishedthevalidityofthebasicideaofpropertyorownership,whenweexaminedthe notionofselfownership.Yourself(yourmindandbody,andtheentitlementtousethemtotheexclusionof others)istheprimarypropertywithwhichweallareborn. Whatdoesourselfownershipmeanaboutourrelationshiptothematerialworld?Dowehaveavalidclaimto ownphysicalmaterialsotherthanourownselves? Philosophershaveexaminedthequestionofmansnatureforcenturies,andarrivedatmanyvaryingand dubiousconclusionsaboutit.Onethingthatseemsfairlyselfevidentandwellestablishedisthatitis reason,ortherationalcapacity,thatsetsahumanbeingapartfromtherestoftheanimalworld.Aristotle, whoselogicalsystemandmethodsofclassifyingtheanimalkingdomwerefoundationalforalllater advances,referredtomanastherationalanimal.Thisfactofmansnaturehascertainimplicationsabout hisrelationshiptothematerialworld. Tosurvive,manmustusethematerialsfoundinnatureashisreasonallowsandrequires.Thiscreatesa clearprerogativetodoso.Inordertomakesuchanassertion,however,wemustexaminetheownership conditionofthematerialsofnaturepriortomanstakingthemandusingthem.Thereareafewpossibilities:
    Scenario1:Thematerialsoftheearthare,priortomanstakingthem,inaconditionofnonownership. Thisconditionpresentsnomoralobstacletomansuseofthematerialsofnatureandhisdoingsocan properlybecomeabasisforpersonalownership,orapersonalrighttothematerialresultsofhislaborin suchapursuit. Scenario2:Thematerialsoftheearthare,priortomanstakingthem,inaconditionofcollective ownershipbyall.Sincetakingfromthosematerialstosurvivewouldthenviolatethatownershipclaimof allotherhumans,thiswouldmeanmanismorallyobligatedtochoosedeathinordertohonoran abstract,nonspecificownershipbyallbuthimself.Itis,inessence,anassertionofselfsacrificeinthe formofdeathitselfasamoralidealandassuchitisunabletobepracticedinprinciplebyalivinghuman. Scenario3:Thematerialsoftheearthare,priortomanstakingfromthem,ownedbyasuperior, overseeingbeingandhisusethereofispermitted.Thisscenario,forallmoralapplications,leavesus backatscenarioonesincethisbeinghasnotgivenexpressdirectivesforwhichspecifichumansown whichmaterialsofnatureandhasplacedusintheconditionwehavealreadyexamined.Thatcondition requiresustouseourreasoninconjunctionwiththeearthsmaterialstosurvive.

    Byexaminingthesescenarios,wecanseethattoholdanythingotherthananindividualmoralentitlement totakematerialsfromnatureandusethemresultsinacontradictionoflifeitself.Theuseofsuchmaterials resultsinanextensionofselfownershipandcreatesanownershiporpropertyintheresultingmaterials, providedthattheyhadnotpreviouslybeenthesubjectofsuchanactionbyanother.Thisconceptisknown ashomesteadingandthemostimportantphilosophicalexaminationshavebeendonebyJohnLockeand MurrayRothbard. Thisprinciplethengivesrisetopersonalmaterialproperty,aswellasarighttotheresultsofexchanges thereof,whichwewilldiscussinfuturecolumns.

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