ABSTRACT
When it comes to moral impediments, the right of self-ownership has to be a leading contender for the league championship. What other moral value stands in the way of as many significant ethical and political objectives as this right does? Whether it be the alleviation of needs or the realization of what has been called ‘equality of condition’ or the maximization of some highly desirable social variable, sooner or later its redistributive demands seem bound to run into head-on conflict with those of self-ownership.1
