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This book is Karl Widerquist's first statement of the "indepentarian" theory of property, called, "Justice as the Pursuit of Accord" (JPA). It argues the natural-rights-based arguments for unequal private property have failed to establish that institution as right. It is a legal privilege, inconsistent with the maximum equal freedom from interference. The book discusses how to establish and maintain a property system that best promotes freedom from interference. Paying taxes and obeying regulations is part of the purchase price of the right to control, use, or use-up any good made partly out of natural resources (i.e. all goods), because doing so interferes with people who control, use, or use-up fewer natural resources. A sufficient portion of that tax revenue has to be redistributed in the form of a Universal Basic Income to ensure the property system is in the interest of everyone.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Problem Of Property.- Chapter 3: Lockean Property Theory: A Menu Of Options For The Justification Of Unilateral Appropriation.- Chapter 4: Lockean Appropriation Assessed.- Chapter 5: Right-Libertarian Appropriation Assessed.- Chapter 6: The Approximation Of A Property Rights Accord.- Chapter 7: Conclusion: The Greater Of Two Goods.
About the author
Karl Widerquist is a Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University-Qatar. He specializes in distributive justice-the ethics of who has what. He has published dozens of articles in fields as diverse as economics, philosophy, politics, and anthropology.
