On the Core Principles of Libertarian Property Rights

“As Narveson writes:

Robert Nozick has most usefully divided the space for principles on the subject of property into three classes: (1) initial acquisition, that is, the acquisition of property rights in external things from a previous condition in which they were unowned by anyone in particular; (2) transfer, that is, the passing of property (that is to say, property rights) from one rightholder to another; and (3) rectification, which is the business of restoring just distributions of property when they have been upset by admittedly unjust practices such as theft and fraud.

Jan Narveson, The Libertarian Idea, reissue ed. (Broadview Press, 2001), p. 69. See also Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York: Basic Books, 1974), ch. 7, section I; Roderick T. Long, “Why Libertarians Believe There is Only One Right,” C4SS.org (April 7, 2014; https://c4ss.org/content/25648) (“Libertarian property rights are, famously, governed by principles of justice in initial appropriation (mixing one’s labour with previously unowned resources), justice in transfer (mutual consent), and justice in rectification (say, restitution plus damages)”); and“Gary Chartier, Anarchy and Legal Order: Law and Politics for a Stateless Society (Cambridge University Press, 2013), at 64–65, et seq., elaborating on the “baseline possessory rules” corresponding to original appropriation and contractual title transfer. Regarding transfers made for purposes of rectification, see ibid., chap. 5, “Rectifying Injury,” esp. §II.C.2, and “A Libertarian Theory of Punishment and Rights” (ch. 5), at Parts IV.B and IV.G.”