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Critical reflections on ownership

As a philosopher, Mary Warnock is perhaps best known for chairing the national inquiry that explored the ethical dilemmas associated with experimentation on human embryos but her work into ethics and morality spans a large range of issues, including environmental protection. In Critical Reflections on Ownership Baroness Warnock returns to the questions posed in her contribution to Should Trees have Standing? 40 Years on and, against the backdrop of the impending environmental crisis, ponders whether we can foster responsibility for something that we do not own, that is: the wilderness or ‘the commons’. The book explores the enjoyment that one gains from private property ownership (in the widest sense of the word ‘enjoyment’) and the responsibility engendered by that ownership, and contrasts these emotions with our feelings towards the un-owned. While it is relatively easy to justify why we might care for that we own – as David Hume wrote in 1741, ‘the relation which is esteem’d the closest and which of all others produces the passion of pride is that of property’ (p 31) – it is more difficult to find a philosophical basis for fostering responsibility towards the commons, an area that we will never personally possess. Directly addressing and resolving this difficulty, Warnock suggests, may help to counter present careless thinking and in turn provide a sounder basis for advancing protection of the environment. Part philosophical tract and part memoir, Critical Reflections on Ownership is a personal reflection on the subject of ownership. The subjective nature of the work is acknowledged and embraced as the author illustrates the argument by drawing upon examples of the gardens that she has owned and with varying success attempted to care for over her lifetime. These autobiographical aspects allow us a glimpse into the life of this great philosopher and add to the book’s general appeal, but rather than being extraneous this analogising ‘makes real’ the philosophical musings. Conceptions of property are value laden and their relative value in ordering society is contestable, and the adoption of a personal style emphasises that Warnock is presenting one perspective only. Perhaps the greatest