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SELF-OWNERSHIP AS PERSONAL SOVEREIGNTY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2020

John Thrasher
John Thrasher*
Affiliation:
Philosophy, Chapman University
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Abstract:

Self-ownership has fallen out of favor as a core moral and political concept. I argue that this is because the most popular conception of self-ownership, what I call the property conception, is typically linked to a libertarian (of the left or right) political program. Seeing self-ownership and libertarianism as being necessarily linked leads those who are not inclined toward libertarianism to reject the idea of self-ownership altogether. This, I argue, is a mistake. Self-ownership is a crucial moral and political concept that can earn its keep if we understand it not as type of property right in the self, but rather as a set of territorial rights one has over one’s body. This territorial conception of self-ownership, which I call the sovereignty conception of self-ownership, avoids the traditional arguments raised against the property conception of self-ownership and has other benefits besides. Accepting this conception of self-ownership, I argue, has considerable moral and political benefits without taking on the costs associated with other forms of self-ownership.

Keywords

sovereigntyrightslibertarianismpropertyownershipautonomy
Type
Research Article
Information
Social Philosophy and Policy , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , Winter 2019 , pp. 116 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © Social Philosophy and Policy Foundation 2020 

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55 This was largely not true with regard to African slaves in the American south, but it was generally true with regard to slaves in Greece, Rome, and the rest of the world.