Property Theory Flashcards
What problems does Jeremy Waldron identify with private property?
- Waldron argues that private property is not necessarily justified because it marginalizes society as a status quo and creates an unfair power balance
- Inefficient allocation of resources and entails a system that uses its force against the unemployed, hungry and homeless; how can this be justified?
- Argues ultimately that private property inherently confers power and, in the long run, renders some powerless.
Drawing on Locke’s labour theory, explain what it means to say that private property is a natural right
Locke was an English philosopher around the time of the Age of Enlightenment who had a theory on the formation of natural rights. He argued that a person’s labour is a product of themselves, so it belongs to them. When it is mixed with a natural product, that product inherently becomes the person’s possession. This theory explains what happened before laws and governments. This doesn’t just explain a right to appropriate from the state of nature but a right to hold more than we need
What are the weaknesses of John Locke’s labour theory?
- Constant conflict if everything belongs to everyone
- Is there such a thing as a right without governments and laws?
- Seems like an unfair allocation of resources, more first come first serve
- Unclear what it means to mix one’s labour with nature
- Is there even such a thing as a natural right
Was Jeremy Bentham right to reject John Locke’s view and the view of the authors of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man that property is a natural right?
Bentham argues that there are no such things as rights, which exist before a government is formed and that there is certainly no such thing as an imprescriptible right. He states that rights are granted when it is advantageous to the society in question and must be amended accordingly with time. He views law as a tool to achieve social goals that are dependant on the context of time. He finally rightly states that it doesn’t matter what happened before laws and governments, one must as “Does this work for us now?”
Drawing on Waldron, Cohen, and discussions in the lectures, explain the relationship between private property and power.
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Drawing on discussions in the lectures, identify specific examples of how private property confers power over others
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Identify those areas of law which we have studied which show that private property in land does not confer absolute power over that land.
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What do Gray and Gray mean when they say that the law sometimes treats property as a responsibility?
- property as a responsibility is duty allocated to one person or more for societies gain
- government intervention in land directed towards social benefit
- so much of how we can use and is now regulated by the state - therefore, it should be seen as property given to us by the state with publicly defined conditions that amount to a responsibility
- property entails an obligation to other people
- e.g. factories and environmental regulations + private homeowners
- it amounts to efficient use of resources
What provisions does the Infrastructure Act 2015 make for enabling (a) non-native invasive species to be dealt with, and (b) hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’)?
a) The act introduces species control, which compensates for any damage and punishes non-compliance - responsibility of having land
b) Allows hydraulic fracking under people’s land without their interests in mind - land as a social responsibility, energy production would benefit the whole community
Using the provisions identified in question 9 above, explain why the Infrastructure Act 2015 is an example of ‘property as a responsibility’, rather than an example of property as a strict right to exclude everyone else and to do as you please with ‘your’ land.
- it is clear from the provisions of the Infrastructure Act 2015 that ‘owning’ private property goes against the notion that it involves a strict right to exclude everyone from your land. It confers power to the government and to other companies to intervene in your land, whether it’s to your personal interest or not.
- However, generally given that we are living in a modern democracy, these interventions, and responsibilities that come with owning land are to the benefit of the entire community
- For example, if each homeowner didn’t do their part to control the spreading of non-native invasive species, the cost to the state would be immense: include stats
- Hydraulic fracking is a more controversial topic due to its view in the environmentalist community but it can still be argued that energy production is beneficial for the entire community and there is no vast untouched space where no one is bothered to do it anymore.
Do you think the law is right to treat property in land as involving responsibility towards others?
- yes, I believe it is right that property is treated as a responsibility
- the tragedy of the commons: if everyone uses the land as they wish, the resources are depleted or ruined over time. However, giving it to a private owner and distributing responsibility means better regulation of land.
