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The Idea of Self-Ownership 1 The Idea of Self-Ownership G. M. Cleaver 2011 A thesis submitted to Cardiff University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics. 2 Summary The idea that each of us owns our physical selves is one that has largely failed to achieve prominence in contemporary political theory, despite its sound philosophical basis, largely due to its association with a strong formulation of right-wing libertarianism best expressed in the work of Robert Nozick. In this thesis I argue that the idea as expressed in Nozick's most infamous work, Anarchy, State and Utopia, is essentially flawed and that there is in fact a way of unpacking self- ownership, necessary under proper consideration of its underlying premises, that would imply far less of a connection with right-libertarianism. Fundamentally, Nozick considered self-ownership as a base value in itself, informing all of his subsequent political and ethical values. Through analysis of various important contemporary attempts to improve on and undermine self-ownership, points made respectively by libertarians who wish to modify it and non-libertarians who wish to do away with it, I argue that self-ownership must in fact be a structure which is itself derivative of a more basic and fundamental value. Conceding the argument held in common by all of the major theorists proposing modifications to self- ownership, that self-ownership is a self-defeating theory when we consider the operability and usefulness of the rights it bestows upon those who have no original resources to trade, I seek to enquire exactly what it is about rights-holders that self-ownership rights were designed to protect and promote, using evidence gleaned from the work of Nozick. I conclude from this that the basic value of agency must underlie the Nozickian supposition of self-ownership. Making agency the primary value subsequently means that self-ownership needs a further derivative principle, something approximating a redistributive system which enables all agents to have self-ownership rights which are of comparably equal usefulness to them. 3 Declaration This work has not been submitted in substance for any other degree or award at this or any other university or place of learning, nor is being submitted concurrently in candidature for any degree or other award. Signed ………Gavin Cleaver…………………… (candidate) Date ……30/09/11…………… Statement 1 This thesis is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PhD. Signed ………Gavin Cleaver…………………… (candidate) Date ……30/09/11…………… Statement 2 This thesis is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by explicit references. The views expressed are my own. Signed ………Gavin Cleaver…………………… (candidate) Date ……30/09/11…………… 4 Statement 3 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside organisations. Signed ………Gavin Cleaver…………………… (candidate) Date ……30/09/11…………… Statement 4 I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and for inter- library loans after expiry of a bar on access previously approved by the Academic Standards & Quality Committee. Signed ………Gavin Cleaver…………………… (candidate) Date ……30/09/11…………… 5 Acknowledgements My thesis was only made possible by the encouragement and support of my family. I am very lucky to have them and will be forever grateful. I am also indebted to Matt, Camilla, and Sarah, and of course to Peri, Pete, and Bruce, for all their input, encouragement, and assistance. 6 Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 9 The Idea of Self-Ownership ................................................................................................... 17 Overview of Thesis ................................................................................................................ 31 Nozick‟s Right-Libertarianism .............................................................................................. 31 Left-libertarian Critics of Nozickian Self-Ownership ........................................................... 33 Other Critics of Self-Ownership ............................................................................................ 35 Restatement of Nozick‟s Account of Self-Ownership ........................................................... 36 Nozick's Self-Ownership.................................................................................................................. 39 Why Nozick?.......................................................................................................................... 39 Anarchy and Natural Rights ................................................................................................... 43 The Dominant Protective Agency .......................................................................................... 50 'Equality' and the Minimal State ............................................................................................ 58 Rights as Side Constraints...................................................................................................... 74 Left-Libertarian Interpretations of Self-ownership ..................................................................... 79 Hillel Steiner on Natural Rights ............................................................................................. 79 Equality in Resource Ownership ........................................................................................... 89 Funding the Global Redistribution Fund ............................................................................... 97 The Nature of the Global Fund ............................................................................................ 104 7 The Self-Ownership Labour Paradox .................................................................................. 106 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 113 Phillippe Van Parijs .............................................................................................................. 115 Self-Ownership and Real Freedom ...................................................................................... 119 The UBI and the „Self-Owning Poor‟ ................................................................................. 128 Job Rents and the Real Cost of Real Freedom .................................................................... 137 Non-Libertarian Responses to Self-Ownership ........................................................................... 149 G.A. Cohen ........................................................................................................................... 149 Freedom and Liberty .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined. The Slavery Gamble ............................................................................................................ 151 Able, Infirm, Joint-Ownership and Equal Division ............................................................. 160 Against Self-Ownership: Ingram et al. ................................................................................ 169 The Justification of Nozickian Self-Ownership ........................................................................... 198 Same Rights, Different Application ..................................................................................... 202 Self-Ownership and Agency ................................................................................................ 206 Formal Freedom and Real Freedom in Nozickian Libertarianism ...................................... 209 Kant, Nozick, and the moral basis of self-ownership rights ................................................ 214 What exactly informs the structure of self-ownership, and why?........................................ 221 Value and Structure .............................................................................................................. 226 Restructuring Nozickian Self-Ownership ............................................................................ 239 8 Conclusion....................................................................................................................................... 247 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................... 255 9 Introduction Stated basically, self-ownership is the concept that I, or you, or any individual, or 'agent', “own” (to the extent that they have full, unfettered and rightful control over) their selves both physically and mentally. The sovereignty over their selves that agents display by the operation of their bodies shows that they are the just owners of their specific body, and that they are entitled that others refrain from interfering with it without explicit permission. The consequence of this intuitively appealing concept is that each person is solely responsible for his or her own actions and their consequences, and in academic political philosophy has almost entirely been associated with a libertarian stance on political issues and social justice. The intuitively attractive and straightforward statement “I am the
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