Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.11, 2013

A Criticism of Libertarianism from the Socialist Perspective: G.A. Cohen’s Rebuke of Robert Nozick’s “Self-ownership” Proposition

(Abstract)

Duan Zhongqiao

The relationship between liberty and equality has been a central theme of debates among contemporary Western political philosophers. Robert Nozick, as the representative of libertarianism, proceeded from the “self-ownership” proposition and viewed capitalist inequality as a reflection that each person is free to do as he pleases. He then went on to argue that equality can only be achieved at the cost of injustice, for ensuring and maintaining equality must necessarily be premised on the infringement of people’s “self-ownership.” In response, the critical Marxist scholar G.A. Cohen raised a counter-argument from the socialist point of view. Firstly, Nozick has not shown that inequality is a necessary consequence of the “self-ownership” principle, because as long as what he terms the initial appropriation of the external world does harm to no one, it will be accessible to all people and cannot derive from “self-ownership.” Secondly, Nozick’s assumption that the external world is originally owned by no one is indiscrete, for if the “self-ownership” principle is considered in combination with the assumption that the external world is jointly owned by people, then the extensive inequality of situation can be avoided. And thirdly, the denial of Nozick’s “self-ownership” does not mean endorsing slavery, nullifying human autonomy, and treating people as means rather than as ends. Rather, affirming “self-ownership” threatens autonomy. With rigid logical analysis, Cohen waged irrefutable criticism at Nozick, pushing the research on liberty-equality relations a step further and promoting the development of political philosophy as a discipline.