Self Ownership Concept

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The concept of self-ownership was developed when philosophers such as John Locke began contemplating about human rights. The concept states that individuals are entitled to and in control of their own bodies. This is significant because it means that no one should be a slave. “By nature we are free and independent beings, not subjected to parental authority or the divine rights of kings. Since we are by nature all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and be subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent.”(Right Thing To Do, pg. 214) Owning one’s body means that the person can do what he or she desires with their abilities and talents. “According to this argument, all citizens have a duty to serve their country.” (Right Thing to Do, pg. …show more content…

The book uses Michael Jordan as an example of self-ownership. If people paid 5 dollars extra after buying a ticket to see him play, they are not being scammed out of their money since they are doing it by their own free will. Also, Michael Jordan earned that money fairly since he did it out of his own talents. He would indeed earn more than his teammates, but he is not scamming them out their money; rather being paid more for being the star attraction(pg. 62, …show more content…

This is because to a Utilitarian moral individualism seems like selfishness because the person might only care about their needs and no one else's. Also when it comes to markets and forced labor Liberals see how moral Individualism can be an illusion of choice. Say a person was homeless and starving and a person offer them 50k for their kidney. This can be said it dobe out of free will but did the homeless person really have much of choice? Moral individualism might gives us the right to decide what we want to do but we need to remember that some of options are limited with social and work

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