Property Rights: A Re-Examination

by J. E Penner

Overview

Ranging over a host of issues, Property Rights: A Re-Examination pinpoints and addresses a number of theoretical problems at the heart of property theory.

Part 1 reconsiders and rejects, once again, the bundle of rights picture of property and the related nominalist theories of property, showing that ownership reflects a tripartite structure of title: the right to immediate, exclusive, possession, the power to license what would otherwise be a trespass, and the power to transfer ownership.

Part 2 explores in detail the Hohfeldian theory of jural relations, in particular liberties and powers and Hohfeld's concept of 'multital' jural relations, and shows that this theory fails to illuminate the nature of property rights, and indeed obscures much that it is vital to understand about them.

Part 3 considers the form and justification of property rights, beginning with the relation an owner's liberty to use her property and her 'right to exclude', with particular reference to the tort of nuisance. Next up for consideration is the Kantian theory of property rights, the deficiencies of which lead us to understand that the only natural right to things is a form of use- or usufructory-right. Part 3 concludes by addressing the ever-vexed question of property rights in land.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198830122
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/11/2020
Series:	Oxford Legal Philosophy
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

James Penner is the Kwa Geok Choo Professor of Property Law at the National University of Singapore. He previously taught at Brunel University, the London School of Economics, King's College London, and University College London. He joined the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore in 2013. He has established himself as one of the world's leading experts in the philosophy of property and the law of trusts, and writes widely in the areas of private law and the philosophy of law. He has been a visiting professor in China, Canada, Belgium, Australia, and the United States.

Table of Contents

Table of ContentsPrefaceAbbreviationsPart One: The Complex Structure of Legal Title to Property1. The 'Bundle of Rights' Picture of Property Revisited2. Two Nominalisms: Moral-Political Nominalism and Scientific Reductionist NominalismPart Two: Hohfeldian Analysis and Legal Property Rights3. Hohfeldian Liberties4. The Problems with Powers5. Multital Jural Relations6. The Transmissibility of Rights and the Power to Transfer TitlePart Three: The Form and Justification of Legal Property Rights7. Exclusion, Use and Usability8. The Justification of Property Rights9. Rights in LandA Conclusion of Sorts

Editorial Reviews

"Penner's book helpfully provides a conceptual structure by which to take property law - and private law more generally - seriously. The book is also useful for private law scholars." — David Frydrych, Law and Philosophy

From the Publisher