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7 Libertarian Papers 1 (2015)

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LIBERTARIAN PAPERS


DEATH, TAXES, AND MISINTERPRETATIONS OF ROBERT

NOZICK: WHY NOZICKIANS CAN OPPOSE THE ESTATE

                                  TAX


                           LAMONT RODGERS*



      IN A RECENT DISCUSSION, Jennifer Bird-Pollan attempts to show that
those who argue that the estate tax is an immoral violation of the private
property rights of the deceased are mistaken.' Her argument specifically
targets Nozickian libertarianism.2 Thus, Bird-Pollan promises to accept
Nozick's libertarian political philosophical viewpoint, and explore the estate
tax from within that perspective.3 Her fundamental conclusion is that
society can, unrestricted by moral constraints regarding the property rights
of the deceased, set a default rule for post-death property rights that reflects
that society's values.4 This paper diagnoses two vital lacunas in Bird-


    *Lamont Rodgers is professor of philosophy at San Jacinto College.
    CITATION INFORMATION FOR THIS ARTICLE:
    Lamont Rodgers. 2015. Death, Taxes, and Misinterpretations of Robert Nozick:
WXhy Nozickians Can Oppose the Estate Tax. Libertaran Papers. 7 (1): 1-17. ONLINE AT:
libertarianpapers.org. THIS ARTICLE IS subject to a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
License (creativecommons.org/licenses).
    ' Jennifer Bird-Pollan, Death, Taxes, and Property (Rights): Nozick, Libertarianism,
and the Estate Tax, Maine L. Rev. 66 1 (2013).
    2 Nozick himself suggested the estate tax might licit. See The Examined Lije:
Philosophical Meditations (New York, NY: Rockefeller Center) 1990, 31-32. Thus, when I
use the term 'Nozickian', I pick out those who endorse most of the views Nozick put
forth in Anarchy, State, and Utopia (New York, NY: Basic Books) 1970. I do not use
'Nozickian' to indicate a strict adherence to everything Nozick the man might have
thought.
    3 Ibid 3.
    4 Ibid 3.


VOL. 7, No. 1 (2015)

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