What is Property? An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809 - 1865)
Translated by Benjamin R. Tucker (1854 - 1939)

What Is Property?: or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government (French: Qu'est-ce que la propriété ? ou Recherche sur le principe du Droit et du Gouvernment) is an influential work of nonfiction on the concept of property and its relation to anarchist philosophy by the French anarchist and mutualist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, first published in 1840.

In the book, Proudhon most famously declared that “property is theft”. Proudhon believed that the common conception of property conflated two distinct components which, once identified, demonstrated the difference between property used to further tyranny and property used to protect liberty. He argued that the result of an individual's labor which is currently occupied or used is a legitimate form of property. Thus, he opposed unused land being regarded as property, believing that land can only be rightfully possessed by use or occupation (which he called "possession"). As an extension of his belief that legitimate property (possession) was the result of labor and occupation, he argued against such institutions as interest on loans and rent.

Genre(s): Business & Economics, Political Science

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 PJ Proudhon, his life and works, Part 1 Deborah Brabyn
00:34:47
Play 02 PJ Proudhon, his life and works, Part 2 Lynne T
00:35:54
Play 03 Preface Capybara
00:31:52
Play 04 Chapter One, Part 1 Mike
00:38:55
Play 05 Chapter One, Part 2 Lucretia B.
00:37:32
Play 06 Chapter Two, Part 1 Anna Simon
00:24:54
Play 07 Chapter Two, Part 2 Tim Makarios
00:37:01
Play 08 Chapter Two, Part 3 Mike
00:33:57
Play 09 Chapter Three, Part 1 Guero
00:22:27
Play 10 Chapter Three, Part 2 Mary Schneider
00:34:34
Play 11 Chapter Three, Part 3 Mary Schneider
00:41:30
Play 12 Chapter Three, Part 4 Lynne T
00:50:10
Play 13 Chapter Four, Part 1 Lynne T
00:45:16
Play 14 Chapter Four, Part 2 Lynne T
00:22:23
Play 15 Chapter Four, Part 3 Saab
00:27:11
Play 16 Chapter Four, Part 4 Julia Niedermaier
00:22:55
Play 17 Chapter Four, Part 5 Lynne T
00:34:09
Play 18 Chapter Five, Part 1 Diana Majlinger
00:30:18
Play 19 Chapter Five, Part 2 Elin
00:26:01
Play 20 Chapter Five, Part 3 Chris Clark
00:16:48
Play 21 Chapter Five, Part 4 Chris Clark
00:42:00
Play 22 Chapter Five, Part 5 Diana Majlinger
00:19:48
Play 23 Second Memoir, Part 1 Chris Clark
00:28:53
Play 24 Second Memoir, Part 2 Chris Clark
00:32:36
Play 25 Second Memoir, Part 3 KHand
00:32:30
Play 26 Second Memoir, Part 4 EccentricOwl
00:30:38
Play 27 Second Memoir, Part 5 KHand
00:32:20
Play 28 Second Memoir, Part 6 KHand
00:23:35
Play 29 Second Memoir, Part 7 KHand
00:28:47
Play 30 Second Memoir, Part 8 Diana Majlinger
00:22:31
Play 31 Conclusion, Part 1 Edward Kirkby
00:35:53
Play 32 Conclusion, Part 2 Edward Kirkby
00:38:58
Play 33 Conclusion, Part 3 Edward Kirkby
00:32:38