ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I explore private property as a legal–philosophical concept and consider how it embodies anthropocentric assumptions. Private property is prioritised over other areas of law because it plays a primary role in mediating human relationships with the environment and because it contains some of law’s key messages about the environment and our place within it. Furthermore, developing an understanding of the ideas that underpin the institution of private property is critical for its future reform – hence the importance of the arguments to be offered here. The related task of adapting private property toward ecocentric ethics and the legal philosophy of Earth jurisprudence is undertaken in Chapter 5.
