Further Towards a Theory of the Emergence of Property

Authors

Bart J. Wilson, Chapman UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2015

Abstract

This article explores the emergence of property as a moral convention. To understand this process I make use of several laboratory experiments on property in its nascence. These experiments illustrate how a rule of property arises from our knowledge of what is morally right, and not vice versa. I also argue that while the ultimate end of property is our interest in using things, the proximate end of property is not losing them, i.e., the end of a rule of property is to secure from morally unfounded harm.

Comments

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in journal, volume, issue, in year following peer review. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/

Recommended Citation

Wilson, B.J. (2015). Further towards a theory of the emergence of property. Public Choice 163: 201. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-014-0217-8

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

Springer