ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by a brief discussion of the meaning and implications of the principle of self-ownership. Universal self-ownership generates a paradox: all persons are self-owners, but all persons are the fruits of others and, therefore, owned by others. The chapter deals with the possibility of grounding self-ownership on freedom alone. The chapter discusses the paradox and claims that it is unresolvable and, as such, supports the rejection of self-ownership in favour of the right to control oneself as subject. It examines the implications for the formal features of ownership: transferability and non-contractualness. The chapter argues that the power of transfer in general cannot be grounded on freedom; that freedom-based rights over oneself that include the power to transfer the rights are self-defeating; and that transfer is conceptually impossible with respect to the right to control oneself as subject. Non-contractualness, on the other hand, is a feature shared by self-ownership and the right to self-control as subject.
