ABSTRACT
The work of GWF Hegel has been important in expanding property theory, particularly beyond inquiries into the instrumental relationships between property-owning subjects and their proprietary objects. For modern legal interpreters, particularly Margaret Radin, Hegel’s Philosophy of Right grounds arguments that property is crucial in the construction of identity, self-expression, and community. Focusing on those modern interpretations, we begin with an overview of the property theory outlined in Philosophy of Right. We then turn to Radin who, writing against the then-dominant market-oriented theories, used Hegel to argue that private property rights should be regulated so as to reflect (and support) their contributions to individual identity and development. Radin has been enormously influential, and contemporary scholars continue to use personhood to examine how and why property is and could be constructed. As the scope of those examinations expands, we conclude by troubling personhood theory, drawing on ethnographic examples to illuminate questions raised in collective contexts.
Thorpe, Amelia and Cohen, Amy J and Gershon, Ilana, After Hegel: Rethinking Personhood for the Collective (October 4, 2023). Forthcoming in Chris Bevan (ed), Handbook on Property Law and Theory (Edward Elgar 2024); University of New South Wales Law Research Paper No 23-24.
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