Ownership

Abstract

Abstract This chapter elucidates the unifying function of a Kantian right with respect to the principal Hohfeldian categories present in the idea of ownership. In Hohfeldian terms, ownership combines the owner’s claim-right to exclude others from the owned object and the owner’s liberty to use that object. This chapter addresses the relationship between using and excluding, by presenting Grotius’ and Kant’s classic accounts of ownership. Grotius’ approach treats use and exclusivity as separate notions, with the latter evolving out of the former. For Kant, in contrast, use and exclusivity are integrated aspects of ownership as a right within a regime of reciprocal freedom. This chapter offers a Kantian critique of Grotius’ account of the original right to use. It then presents Kant’s notion of usability as the basis for his integration of use and exclusivity. Next, the chapter deals with the special problem for reciprocal freedom that is posed by acquisition, and with the role of a system of acquisition within a regime of public institutions in providing the solution to that problem. Finally, the chapter concludes with reflections on the conceptual place of ownership within a system of property.