The Idea of Property in Law

In this book a coherent and sensible idea of property is developed that vindicates the common sense view of property. Relying on Raz's work on norms and the structure of legal systems, the legal practice that regulates our interactions with things is set against the background of other laws. By situating property in the context of a system of norms, one is able to distinguish its essential features. In particular, a sharp distinction can be drawn between the practice of property, which concerns the normative relations between people and things, and the practice of contract, which concerns personal relations between people arising by agreement. Property and contract have for far too long been considered as inextricably intertwined, and the work of Hegel and Locke is examined from this critical perspective. In contrast, the gratuitous social use of property, giving and sharing, is explained as fundamental to the practice of property itself.