View source for Self-ownership

{{Short description|Concept of property in one's own person}}
{{Redirect|Sovereign individual|the book|The Sovereign Individual}}
{{individualism sidebar|expanded=Topics}}
{{anarchism sidebar|Theory}}
{{libertarianism sidebar|expoanded=Concepts}}
'''Self-ownership''', also known as '''sovereignty of the individual''' or '''individual sovereignty''', is the concept of property in one's own person, expressed as the [[Natural and legal rights|moral or natural right]] of a person to have [[bodily integrity]] and be the exclusive controller of one's own body and life. Self-ownership is a central idea in several [[Political philosophy|political philosophies]] that emphasize [[individualism]], such as [[libertarianism]], liberalism, and [[anarchism]].

== Definitional issues ==
=== The self ===
American [[libertarian socialist]] [[Stephen Pearl Andrews]] frequently discussed the sovereignty of the individual in his writings. In ''The Science of Society'', he says that Protestantism, democracy and socialism are "three partial announcements of one generic principle" which is "the sovereignty of the individual".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Stephen Pearl |url=https://archive.org/details/scienceofsociety00andrrich/page/154/mode/2up |title=The Science of Society |publisher=Sarah E. Holmes |year=1888 |pages=155}}</ref> Andrews considered the sovereignty of the individual to be "the basis of harmonious intercourse amongst equals, precisely as the equal Sovereignty of States is the basis of harmonious intercourse between nations mutually recognizing their independence of each other."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Andrews |first=Stephen Pearl |title=The Sovereignty of the Individual |date=1938 |publisher=Freeman Press |pages=18}}</ref>

Discussion of the boundary of self with respect to ownership and responsibility has been explored by legal scholar Meir Dan-Cohen in his essays on ''The Value of Ownership'' and ''Responsibility and the Boundaries of the Self''.{{undue weight inline|date=August 2021}} The emphasis of this work illuminates the phenomenology of ownership and our common usage of personal pronouns to apply to both body and property{{snd}}this serves as the folk basis for legal conceptions and debates about responsibility and ownership.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dan-Cohen |first=Meir |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7shdn |title=Harmful Thoughts: Essays on Law, Self, and Morality |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0691090078 |jstor=j.ctt7shdn}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=August 2021}} Another view holds that labor is alienable because it can be contracted out, thus alienating it from the self. In this view, the choice of a person to [[Voluntary slavery|voluntarily sell oneself into slavery]] is also preserved by the principle of self-ownership.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-07-30 |title=Toward a Libertarian Theory of Inalienability: A Critique of Rothbard, Barnett, Smith, Kinsella, Gordon, and Epstein |url=https://mises.org/library/toward-libertarian-theory-inalienability-critique-rothbard-barnett-smith-kinsella-gordon-and |access-date=2021-10-28 |website=Mises Institute |language=en}}</ref>

=== Labour markets and private property ===
For anarcho-communist political philosopher [[L. Susan Brown]]: "Liberalism and anarchism are two political philosophies that are fundamentally concerned with [[Individual rights|individual freedom]] yet differ from one another in very distinct ways. Anarchism shares with liberalism a commitment to individual freedom while rejecting liberalism's competitive property relations".<ref name="ReferenceA">[[L. Susan Brown]] (1993). ''[[The Politics of Individualism: Liberalism, Liberal Feminism, and Anarchism]]''. Black Rose Books.</ref> Scholar [[Ellen Meiksins Wood]] says that "there are doctrines of individualism that are opposed to [[John Locke|Lockean individualism]]... and non-Lockean individualism may encompass [[socialism]]".<ref>[[Ellen Meiksins Wood]] (1972). ''Mind and Politics: An Approach to the Meaning of Liberal and Socialist Individualism''. [[University of California Press]]. {{ISBN|0520020294}}. p. 7</ref>

[[Right-libertarian]] conceptions of self-ownership extend the concept to include control of private property as part of the self. According to [[Gerald Cohen]], "the libertarian principle of self-ownership says that each person enjoys, over herself and her powers, full and exclusive rights of control and use, and therefore owes no service or product to anyone else that she has not contracted to supply".<ref>Cited in ''The Blackwell Dictionary of Western Philosophy''. 2004. Blackwell Publishing. p. 630</ref>

Philosopher [[Ian Shapiro]] says that labor markets affirm self-ownership because if self-ownership were not recognized, then people would not be allowed to sell the use of their productive capacities to others. He says that the individual sells the use of his productive capacity for a limited time and conditions but continues to own what he earns from selling the use of that capacity and the capacity itself, thereby retaining sovereignty over himself while contributing to economic efficiency.<ref>Shapiro, Ian (2001). ''Democratic Justice''. Yale University Press. pp. 145–146 {{ISBN?}}</ref> A common view within [[classical liberalism]] is that sovereign-minded individuals usually assert a right of [[private property]] external to the body, reasoning that if a person owns themselves, they own their actions, including those that create or improve resources, therefore they own their own labour and the fruits thereof.<ref>Harris, J. W. (1996). ''Property and Justice''. Oxford University Press. p. 189</ref>

In ''[[Human Action]]'', [[Austrian School]] economist [[Ludwig von Mises]] argues that labor markets are the rational conclusion of self-ownership and argues that collective ownership of labor ignores differing values for the labor of individuals:

{{blockquote|Of course, people believe that there is an essential difference between the tasks incumbent upon the comrades of the socialist commonwealth and those incumbent upon slaves or serfs. The slaves and serfs, they say, toiled for the benefit of an exploiting lord. But in a socialist system, the produce of labor goes to society of which the toiler himself is a part; here the worker works for himself, as it were. What this reasoning overlooks is that the identification of the individual comrades and the totality of all comrades with the collective entity pocketing the produce of all work is merely fictitious. Whether the ends which the community's officeholders are aiming at agreeing or disagreeing with the wishes and desires of the various comrades are of minor importance. The main thing is that the individual's contribution to the collective entity's wealth is not requited in the shape of wages determined by the market.|author=Ludwig von Mises<ref>{{Cite book |last=von Mises |first=Ludwig |url=https://mises.org/sites/default/files/Human%20Action_3.pdf |title=Human Action |date=18 August 2014 |page=628 |chapter=Work and Wages |author-link=Ludwig von Mises |access-date=2017-09-07}}</ref>}}

Other scholars are critical of the idea of private property, specifically within [[anarchism]]. The anarchist [[Oscar Wilde]] said:

{{blockquote|For the recognition of private property has really harmed Individualism, and obscured it, by confusing a man with what he possesses. It has led Individualism entirely astray. It has made gain, not growth its aim. So that man thought that the important thing was to have, and did not know that the important thing is to be. The true perfection of man lies, not in what man has, but in what man is... With the abolition of private property, then, we shall have true, beautiful, healthy Individualism. Nobody will waste his life in accumulating things, and the symbols for things. One will live. To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all".|author=Oscar Wilde<ref>{{Citation |last=Danson |first=Lawrence |title=The Soul of Man Under Socialism |date=1998 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186281.003.0008 |work=Wilde's IntentionsThe Artist in his Criticism |pages=148–167 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198186281.003.0008 |isbn=978-0198186281 |access-date=2021-10-28|url-access=subscription }}</ref>}}

Within anarchism, the concept of [[wage slavery]] refers to a situation perceived as quasi-voluntary [[slavery]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Ellerman|1992}}.</ref> where a person's [[livelihood]] depends on wages, especially when the dependence is total and immediate.<ref name="merriam-webster.com">{{Cite web |title=wage slave |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wage%20slave |access-date=4 March 2013 |publisher=[[Merriam Webster|merriam-webster.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=wage slave |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wage%20slave |access-date=4 March 2013 |publisher=[[dictionary.com]]}}</ref> It is a [[connotation|negatively connoted]] term used to draw an analogy between slavery and [[wage labor]] by focusing on similarities between owning and [[employment|renting]] a person. The term "wage slavery" has been used to criticize [[economic exploitation]] and [[social stratification]], with the former seen primarily as unequal bargaining power between labor and capital (particularly when workers are paid comparatively low wages, e.g. in [[sweatshops]])<ref>{{Harvnb|Sandel|1996|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=_KdrTfTxqvgC&pg=PA184 184]}}.</ref> and the latter as a lack of [[workers' self-management]], fulfilling job choices and leisure in an economy.<ref name="globetrotter.berkeley.edu">{{Cite web |title=Conversation with Noam Chomsky |url=http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Chomsky/chomsky-con2.html |access-date=2010-06-28 |publisher=Globetrotter.berkeley.edu |page=2 |archive-date=19 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190919041544/http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/people2/Chomsky/chomsky-con2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="HB">{{Harvnb|Hallgrimsdottir|Benoit|2007}}.</ref><ref name="spunk.org">{{Cite web |title=The Bolsheviks and Workers Control, 1917–1921: The State and Counter-revolution |url=http://www.spunk.org/texts/places/russia/sp001861/bolintro.html |access-date=4 March 2013 |publisher=[[Spunk Library]]}}</ref> With the advent of the [[Industrial Revolution]], thinkers such as [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]] and [[Karl Marx]] elaborated the comparison between wage labor and slavery in the context of a critique of societal property not intended for active personal use<ref>{{Harvnb|Proudhon|1890}}.</ref><ref name="Marx 1863 c7">{{Harvnb|Marx|1969|loc=[http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1863/theories-surplus-value/ch07.htm Chapter VII]}}.</ref> while [[Luddite]]s emphasized the [[dehumanization]] brought about by machines. [[Emma Goldman]] famously denounced "wage slavery" by saying: "The only difference is that you are hired slaves instead of block slaves".<ref>{{Harvnb|Goldman|2003|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0IF7CusxuMcC&pg=PA283  283]}}.</ref>

Within [[left-libertarianism]], scholars such as [[Hillel Steiner]],<ref>Steiner, Hillel (1994). ''An Essay on Rights''. Oxford: Blackwell.</ref> [[Peter Vallentyne]],<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Vallentyne |editor-first1=Peter |editor-last2=Steiner |editor-first2=Hillel |date=2000 |title=Left-Libertarianism and Its Critics: The Contemporary Debate |location=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref> [[Philippe Van Parijs]],<ref>Van Parijs, Philippe (2009). ''Marxism Recycled''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref> [[Michael Otsuka]]<ref>Otsuka, Michael (2005). ''Libertarianism without Inequality''. New York: Oxford University Press.</ref> and [[David Ellerman]]<ref>Ellerman, David (1992). ''Property and Contract in Economics: The Case for Economic Democracy''. Cambridge MA: Blackwell.</ref><ref>Ellerman, David (1990). ''The Democratic Worker-Owned Firm''. London: Unwin Hyman.</ref> root an economic egalitarianism in the classical liberal concepts of self-ownership and [[land appropriation]], combined with [[geoist]] or [[physiocrat]]ic views regarding the ownership of land and [[natural resources]] (e.g. those of [[John Locke]] and [[Henry George]]). Left-libertarians "maintain that the world's natural resources were initially unowned or belonged equally to all, and it is illegitimate for anyone to claim exclusive private ownership of these resources to the detriment of others. Such private appropriation is legitimate only if everyone can appropriate an equal amount, or if those who appropriate more are taxed to compensate those who are thereby excluded from what was once common property". This position is articulated in contrast to the position of other libertarians who argue for a right to appropriate parts of the external world based on sufficient use, even if this [[homesteading]] yields unequal results.<ref>Rothbard, Murray N. (1982). ''The Ethics of Liberty''. Atlantic Heights, NJ: Humanities.</ref> Some left-libertarians of the Steiner–Vallentyne type support some form of income redistribution on the grounds of a claim by each individual to be entitled to an equal share of natural resources.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Vallentyne |editor-first1=Peter |editor-last2=Steiner |editor-first2=Hillel |date=2000 |title=Left-Libertarianism and Its Critics: The Contemporary Debate |location=London |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Gaus |editor-first1=Gerald F. |editor-last2=Kukathas |editor-first2=Chandran |date=2004 |title=Handbook of Political Theory |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=Sage |page=128}}</ref>

== History ==
[[John Locke]] wrote in his ''[[Two Treatises on Government]]'' that "every man has a Property in his own Person". Libertarian philosopher [[Robert Nozick]] interprets Locke as saying that the individual "has a right to decide what would become of himself and what he would do, and as having a right to reap the benefits of what he did".<ref>Olsaretti, Serena. 2004. ''Liberty, Desert and the Market''. Cambridge University Press. p. 91</ref><ref>Dan-Cohen, Meir. 2002. ''Harmful Thoughts: Essays on Law, Self, and Morality''. Princeton University Press. p. 296</ref> [[Josiah Warren#Philosophy|Josiah Warren]] was the first who wrote about the "sovereignty of the individual".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Josiah Warren Manifesto |url=http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bright/warren/WarrenManifesto/Pages/6.html |access-date=2021-10-28 |website=dwardmac.pitzer.edu}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Castle doctrine]]
* [[Civil libertarianism]]
* [[Civil liberties]]
* [[Cognitive liberty]]
* [[Counter-economics]]
* [[Empowerment]]
* [[Free will]]
* [[Freedom of speech]]
* [[Freedom of thought]]
* [[Harm principle]]
* [[Individualist anarchism]]
* [[Law of equal liberty]]
* [[Negative liberty]]
* [[Mind–body dualism]]
* [[Non-aggression principle]]
* [[Perpetual traveler]]
* [[Public-order crime]]
* [[Redemption movement]]
* [[Right to die]]
* [[Right to personal identity]]
* [[Self-determination]]
* [[Sovereign citizen movement]]
* [[Sumptuary law]]
* [[Victimless crime]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes and references ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=G. A. |title=Self-Ownership, Freedom, and Equality |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |author-link=G. A. Cohen}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ellerman |first=David P. |url=http://www.ellerman.org/Davids-Stuff/Books/P&C-Book.pdf |title=Property and Contract in Economics: The Case for Economic Democracy |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell|Blackwell]] |year=1992 |isbn=978-1557863096 |location=Cambridge,&nbsp;MA |author-link=David Ellerman |access-date=9 March 2013}}
* {{Cite book |last=Goldman |first=Emma |title=Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Volume I: Made for America, 1890–1901 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0520086708 |editor-last=Falk |editor-first=Candace |editor-link=List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1998 |location=Berkeley & Los Angeles,&nbsp;CA |author-link=Emma Goldman |display-editors=etal}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Hallgrimsdottir |first1=Helga Kristin |last2=Benoit |first2=Cecilia |year=2007 |title=From Wage Slaves to Wage Workers: Cultural Opportunity Structures and the Evolution of the Wage Demands of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, 1880–1900 |journal=[[Social Forces]] |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=1393–1411 |doi=10.1353/sof.2007.0037 |jstor=4494978 |s2cid=154551793}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marx |first=Karl |title=[[Theories of Surplus Value]] |publisher=[[Progress Publishers]] |year=1969 |location=Moscow |orig-year=1863}}
* {{Cite book |last=Proudhon |first=Pierre-Joseph |title=What Is Property? or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government |publisher=Humboldt Publishing |year=1890 |location=New York|author-link=Pierre-Joseph Proudhon |orig-year=1840}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sandel |first=Michael J. |url=https://archive.org/details/democracysdiscon0000sand |title=Democracy's Discontent: America in Search of a Public Philosophy |publisher=[[Belknap Press]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0674197442 |location=Cambridge,&nbsp;MA |author-link=Michael Sandel |url-access=registration}}

== External links ==
* [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/libertarianism/#1 ''Self-Ownership'']
* [http://www.nonserviam.com/egoistarchive/stirner/TheEgo.pdf ''The Ego and Its Own''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011201017/http://www.nonserviam.com/egoistarchive/stirner/TheEgo.pdf |date=11 October 2010 }} (also translated as ''The Individual and His Property'', the main work by German philosopher [[Max Stirner]])
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050802010353/http://www.isil.org/resources/introduction.html ''The Philosophy of Liberty'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051223151113/http://www.sovereignlife.com/sovereign-individual.html ''What is a sovereign individual?'']
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