Autonomy, taxation and ownership
an anarchist critique of Kant's theory of property
pp. 69-85
in: Benjamin Franks, Matthew Wilson (eds), Anarchism and moral philosophy, Berlin, Springer, 2010Abstract
Property fundamentally affects liberty. When any two individuals occupy space in a finite area, the choices of one will, in principle, and usually in practice, limit the liberties of the other. For instance, if I am sitting in a public park, then you can sit anywhere you please so long as you do not want to sit in the very space I occupy, for I am already sitting there and you have no right to move me. But if, as it turns out, you own the park, then some would say you do have a right to sit in the space I currently occupy, for I have no right to be there. Property, by limiting the sphere of our available and legitimate actions, has this clear and elemental effect on liberty.
