Privacy, Private Property and Collective Property

Annabelle Lever (1)

1 UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva

In A Theory of Justice John Rawls argued that people in a just society would have rights to some forms of personal property, whatever the best way to organise the economy. Without being explicit about it, he also seems to have believed that protection for at least some forms of privacy are included in the Basic Liberties, to which all are entitled. Thus, Rawls assumes that people are entitled to form families, as well as personal associations which reflect their tastes as well as their beliefs and interests. He seems also to have assumed that people are entitled to seclude themselves, as well as to associate with others, and to keep some of their beliefs, knowledge, feelings and ideas to themselves, rather than being obliged to share them with others. So, thinking of privacy as an amalgam of claims to seclusion, solitude, anonymity and intimate association, we can say that Rawls appears to include at least some forms of privacy in his account of the liberties protected by the first principle of justice. [First paragraph]

Mots clés: Privacy; Private property; Collective property; Equality; Democracy; Rights; Homelessness

Mots clés: Vie privée; Propriété privée; Propriété collective; Égalité; Démocratie; Sans abris

Domaines: Droit; Philosophie; Science politique; Sociologie

Annabelle Lever. Privacy, Private Property and Collective Property. Good Society, 2012, 21 (1), pp.47 - 60. ⟨10.1353/gso.2012.0009⟩. ⟨hal-03473820⟩