“Property and Domination”--S.M. Love (Georgia State University)

Imagine two communities of people living near a lake. Both depend on the lake for their subsistence. If one of the communities were to own the lake, the second community would be completely dependent on the first. One might describe this situation as domination, given the first community’s substantial power over the second. One might further wish to argue that since these property rights result in domination, they are unjust and illegitimate. Here, I begin by briefly arguing that Philip Pettit’s neo-republicanism cannot ground the argument above. I then develop a Kantian republican argument that can rule out a distribution of property rights that leaves some dependent on others for their survival. I argue that within the Kantian framework, the regime of property rights we have in place is a choice that we are responsible for. Like any other choice, our choice in structuring our regime of property rights must be compatible with each person’s innate right to freedom. Choosing to deny persons access to the material resources required for subsistence violates their right to freedom, as it is a choice that undermines their agency. As I argue, the primary wrong in situations where some are made dependent on others for the material resources required for their survival is not this relationship of dependence, it is that they are denied the means for their survival in the first place.

Dr. Love is an assistant professor of philosophy with a joint appointment at the College of Law at Georgia State University. Love received her BA from Scripps College in 2008. She then received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2012. After law school, she studied philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, earning her Ph.D. in 2018. Love’s primary research interests are in political and legal theory, where she aims to show that Immanuel Kant’s theory of right has a great deal to offer to contemporary discussions of political and legal theory. In addition, Love also studies Karl Marx’s treatment of capitalism. Her current research focuses on discussing economic and property systems within the framework of Kant’s theory of right. Love argues that the innate right to freedom, which serves as the foundation of Kant’s theory of right, both entails robust socioeconomic rights and is inconsistent with capitalism.