Property Law Reflections of a Sense of Right and Wrong

Abstract

An evolutionary perspective on human morality may help us understand and critique the law. This chapter examines three areas of American property law. In two of the three areas, title by first possession and title by adverse possession, the pieces of legal doctrine fit together when seen through an evolutionary lens. In the third area of law, compensation for eminent domain, the inconsistency between the legal doctrine and biologically predictable human attitudes suggests why governmental takings of property raise public ire and suggests what can be done to make the law less offensive to normal sensibilities.