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Critique of the entrepreneurial theory of ownership

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2025

Konstantin Morozov*
Affiliation:
RAS Institute of Philosophy. 12/1 Goncharnaya Str., Moscow, 109240, Russian Federation

Abstract

This article presents a critique of Sergei Sazonov’s entrepreneurial theory of ownership. The article first reconstructs Sazonov’s response to the private duty imposition objection. It then demonstrates that Sazonov’s theory cannot overcome this objection because it is based on an ambiguity in the meaning of the word ‘use’. The entrepreneurial theory of ownership understands ‘use’ in a rather narrow and contradictory sense, which differs from the meaning in which this concept appears in objections to theories of original appropriation.

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© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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