Works

What Is Property?

Citation Formats

General Reference

Philosophy Atlas. "What Is Property?." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/what-is-property.

APA Style

Philosophy Atlas. (n.d.). What Is Property?. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/what-is-property

BibTeX

@misc{philosophyatlas-what-is-property,
  author = {Philosophy Atlas},
  title = {What Is Property?},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/what-is-property},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's 1840 treatise, published in French, opening with the question of its own title and answering that property, meaning the legal right to draw rent, interest or profit from a holding without working it oneself, is theft, while possession earned through use and labor is legitimate. The book is generally credited as the founding statement of anarchism as a self-named political philosophy and of the mutualist tradition within it.

Facts

Publication Year

1840 1

Original Language

French 1

Cross-Tradition Connections