Nozick Flashcards
Nozick’s Theory of Property Rights
justice in initial acquisition
justice in transfer
justice in rectification
Acquisition
how unowned things can come to be owned. If someone acquires property without infringing on the rights of others and through just means (e.g., by mixing one’s labor with an unowned natural resource), then the acquisition is just.
Transfer
This concerns the way in which people can transfer their property rights to others. As long as the transfer is voluntary and without coercion, it is just.
Rectification
This principle deals with how injustices from past violations of the first two principles can be rectified.
If past injustice affected current distribution of resources, rectification is required.
Nozick does not specify
Patterned System
Rawls - In patterned systems, resources are distributed according to some predetermined pattern or principle. The end result or final distribution matters most.
Think of maximin
Unpatterned Systems of Distribution
Nozick - In unpatterned systems, resources are distributed based on processes or actions that are deemed just, without aiming for a specific pattern or outcome. The process or history of acquisition and transfer matters most, not the end result.
How does Nozick view taxation
Nozick believes that taxation on earnings is on par with forced labor and slavery
End state theory of justice
you can tell whether or not a situation is just simply by looking at its structure.
look at the end goal of a policy/outcome. doesn’t matter how people got to it, what matters is what came out of it
Historical theories of justice
Principles for which, if we were to examine a distribution of wealth, we cannot determine whether it is just or unjust unless we
know some of the HISTORICAL DETAILS about how this distribution CAME ABOUT.
Entitlement Theory
justice in holdings is determined by its history: if property was acquired justly and transferred justly, then it is held justly.
(Historical theory)
