Self-ownership, labor, and licensing

Social Philosophy and Policy 36 (2):174-195 (2019)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

:In this essay I examine restrictions on labor as takings of property: a liberty to work is property, and restrictions of that liberty are takings. I set property in one’s labor within a unified framework for all forms of property, understood as a social institution for balancing two freedoms: freedom to act even if it interferes with someone else, and freedom from interference. As such, property includes not only possession but also use and disposition. To restrict use or disposition is to alter those freedoms, which is a taking of property, including property in one’s labor. I understand such takings to be justified insofar as they benefit the persons whose freedoms are altered, taking up the question of when restrictions on use and disposition of labor are to the benefit or the harm of excluded workers. Appreciating that labor is property, and that restrictions on labor are takings, reframes the justificatory burden that restrictions on labor must bear. And where that justification is lacking, this approach reframes the nature of the wrongs that unjustified restrictions perpetrate, especially against the most vulnerable workers.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,593

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Labor as the Basis for Intellectual Property Rights.Bryan Cwik - 2014 - Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 17 (4):681-695.
The Endangered Species Act, Regulatory Takings, and Public Goods.N. Scott Arnold - 2009 - Social Philosophy and Policy 26 (2):353-377.
Locke's Labor Theory of Original Appropriation: Philosophical Significance and Implications.Simeon Wyckliffe Hebert - 1993 - Dissertation, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick
Makers' rights.A. John Simmons - 1998 - The Journal of Ethics 2 (3):197-218.
On The Right to Private Property and Entitlement to One’s Income.Andrei Marmor - 2005 - Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 18 (1).
From Libertarianism to Egalitarianism.Justin Schwartz - 1992 - Social Theory and Practice 18 (3):259-288.
Hannah Arendt: from Property to Capital... and Back?Alfonso Ballesteros - 2018 - Archiv Fuer Rechts Und Sozialphilosphie 104 (2):184-201.
The labor theory of property acquisition.Lawrence C. Becker - 1976 - Journal of Philosophy 73 (18):653-664.

Analytics

Added to PP
2021-03-17

Downloads
4 (#1,426,245)

6 months
1 (#1,040,386)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Daniel Russell
University of Arizona

Citations of this work

Ambidextrous Lockeanism.Billy Christmas - 2020 - Economics and Philosophy 36 (2):193-215.
The Neoliberal Turn: Libertarian Justice and Public Policy.Billy Christmas - 2020 - Journal des Economistes Et des Etudes Humaines 26 (1).

Add more citations

References found in this work

Anarchy, State, and Utopia.Robert Nozick - 1974 - Philosophy 52 (199):102-105.
Property and justice.David Schmidtz - 2010 - Social Philosophy and Policy 27 (1):79-100.

Add more references