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Communal Ownership and Kant’s Theory of Right

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 August 2020

S. M. Love*
Affiliation:
Georgia State University
*

Abstract

The article argues that Kant’s argument for ownership entails a standard of meaningful use by which property regimes can be evaluated: a regime must make it possible for usable objects to be meaningfully used. A particular form of fully communal ownership can satisfy this standard. Further, this form of communal ownership is compatible with Kantian freedom more broadly. I conclude that, if this is so, there is a great deal of space for further consideration of the rightfulness of diverse regimes of ownership and exchange within a Kantian framework.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Kantian Review

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