Property and Time

Abstract

A simple fact which is already familiar is that the time-spans of persons, resources and legal titles do not necessarily coincide. The consequences of this fact, however, are not at all simple. Examples of the questions which arise are should inheritance be allowed, or more generally what should happen to individual property on the death of its present holder? Secondly, since resources may be ‘used up’ to a greater or lesser extent by those to whom they are available, should these persons be entitled to use them as they please, or do they have obligations towards their successors which would limit their own actions? Thirdly, since property has been passed on from predecessors, do the present holders have any obligations towards those who went before, or obligations to their contemporaries which follow from the provenance of what they possess (such as providing access to works of art, or preserving the heritage of a nation)?