ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The foundations for a new theory of property rights, a theory which is independent of the rigidity and ultimate mystery of seventeenth-century natural rights theory, as well as of the ruthlessly forward-looking concerns of utilitarian and revolutionary socialist theories, can be laid by a careful analysis of the relevant distinctions with regard to rights per se. While some of what follows will be applicable to a discussion of property rights per se, that is, to systems of state or communal ownership as well as to systems of private ownership, it should be kept in mind that the primary aim here is the analysis of arguments for private property. It should be mentioned that the scarcity of goods is regarded by most writers as the central, controlling fact of the contexts in which problems about property rights arise.
