Łukasz Dominiak, The Problem of Axiomatic Status of the Self-Ownership Principled in the Libertarian Political Philosophy

Łukasz Dominiak has just published what looks to be an interesting paper, “The Problem of Axiomatic Status of the Self-Ownership Principled in the Libertarian Political Philosophy“. I say “looks to be” as it is in Polish. The English Abstract is below. I have included a link to this paper in my “Argumentation Ethics and Liberty: A Concise Guide” (2011) and Supplemental Resources.

Abstract

The subject-matter of the present paper is one of the fundamental theoretical bases of the libertarian political philosophy: the principle of self-ownership. Th e research problem of the paper is the following question: Is the self-ownership principle an axiom? The research method employed in the paper is the method of disputatio. Based on the conducted research, the paper proposes the affirmative thesis: the self-ownership principle is an axiom. The paper presents a conceptual framework that distinguishes between self-possession, selfownership, and the justifi cation of the latter. It also develops a line of argument which demonstrates that although prima facie only the self-possession is an axiom, self-possession necessarily implies selfownership, granting thereby the axiomatic status to the latter too.

Keywords: libertarianism, self-ownership, selfpossession, axiom, argumentation ethics, natural rights, natural law