Moral justification of private property

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Felsefe Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2018

Öğrenci: MERT ATALAY

Danışman: BARIŞ PARKAN

Özet:

In this thesis, I aim at drawing out the moral implications of private property by examining its relationships with some core moral concepts, such as rights, freedom and privacy. Dealing with these relationships, I believe that I am able to reveal the fundamental principle of a practical morality, which is ‘appropriation’. With respect to this principle, I argue that private property’s connection to morality requires the perspective of the appropriation of values. The appropriation of values is my own reading of the Objectivist ethics that is built on the epistemological and ethical principles of Objectivism. Objectivism is the philosophical system invented by Ayn Rand that relies on the pursuit of one’s own rational interests in the achievement of objective values and happiness. However, for the purpose of my thesis, I mainly focus on introducing and improving my own arguments regarding moral justification of private property, which takes its key notions from Objectivism.