Problems of Robert Nozick’s Principle of Justice in Acqusition: Nozick’s Misunderstanding of the Nozickean Proviso and Its Consequences

This paper examines Robert Nozick’s principle of justice in acqusitions that he suggests for the just appropriation of property. The work is mainly concentrated on the proviso suggested for the principle. The contention here is situated on the issues of Nozick’s reconstruction of Locke’s original version of the proviso and his claim that the principle is a ‘historical and non-patterend principle’. I will textually criticise Nozick’s understanding of his own version of the proviso and, while clarifiying his own version of the proviso, I will raise contextual problems concerning his misunderstanding. Ultimately, these issues are considered as crucially vital problems for this latter claim. His principle, conclusively, is not obligied only to serve for private property, but it can also work for other systems of property as well. This last point is quite unexpected and unwanted for Nozick himself. Hence, the principle clamped with the Nozickean proviso, does not compatible with Nozick’s claim of being ‘historical and non-patterned’