Rights, Property, and Community

Abstract

Property rights are commonly thought to be absolute and sacrosanct. Utilitarian theorists, such as Locke, have encouraged a further belief that property rights are synonymous with individual liberty. A number of more recent writers have claimed that these rights are moral values independent of the particular (capitalist) structure of society. Moreover, there is a supposed conflict between the community good and individual liberty. These notions are criticized from a Structuralist perspective which presumes that individuals have meaning only in a social context. It is also claimed, contrary to utilitarian notions, that values themselves (whether defined as the deep causes of inequality or not) can only be derived from the community.