What Is Property? · Question
How does What Is Property? develop the theme of Equality and Justice?
Answer
What Is Property? by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon develops Equality and Justice across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
A recurring theme that true justice requires equality of conditions, and that property creates unjust inequality by privileging some over others through occupation, labor, or law.
Proudhon's principle of equality is central to his critique of property and his economic theories, as seen in his early memoirs and the influence of Adam Smith.
The chapter frames the inquiry in terms of achieving true equality and justice, which property is argued to undermine.
Proudhon argues that justice is the supreme law and that property must be examined against it; he asserts that arguments for property inevitably lead to equality, negating property.
Evidence in the book
- P. J. Proudhon
Proudhon's principle of equality is central to his critique of property and his economic theories, as seen in his early memoirs and the influence of Adam Smith.
- What Is Property?
The chapter frames the inquiry in terms of achieving true equality and justice, which property is argued to undermine.
- I
Proudhon argues that justice is the supreme law and that property must be examined against it; he asserts that arguments for property inevitably lead to equality, negating property.
- § 1: Property as a Natural Right
Contrasts the absolute rights of liberty, equality, and security with property, which he claims is incompatible with true equality and justice.
- § 2: Occupation, as the Title to Property
The chapter argues that true justice requires equal access to the means of life, and that property based on occupation violates this equality.
- § 1: The Land Cannot Be Appropriated
The chapter emphasizes that equality of needs demands equality of possession, rejecting unequal property rights.
- § 2: Universal Consent No Justification of Property
The chapter argues that any valid consent would require reciprocal surrenders, leading back to equality, and that property violates this.
- § 3: Prescription Gives No Title to Property
Proudhon insists that true justice requires equality of possessions, and that prescription, if valid, must presuppose equality.
