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What Does Nozick Say That Liberty Upsets Patterns

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Justice Paper 2
-Ankur Shah

Nozick says that "liberty upsets patterns." Critically assess this claim. Be sure to: I. Explain what the quoted phrase means (what Nozick means by “liberty” and by “patterns”); II. Discuss how Rawls would respond to Nozick’s thesis; III. Explain whether Nozick is right that liberty upsets patterns; IV. If Nozick is right, then discuss whether such "upsetting" of patterns provides a sound reason for rejecting patterns, or for regulating liberty.
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“Liberty upsets patterns”

In his book “Anarchy, state and utopia”, Nozick provides a moral defense for Libertarianism, which is traditionally defined as “the advocacy of individual liberty, …show more content…

To illustrate the meaning behind “liberty upsets patterns,” I will closely examine the Chamberlain’s example. This example demonstrates that free exchange, which rises from the idea of self-ownership, will upset the patterned distribution. Basically, if people have the right to dispose their legitimately earned wealth as they see fit. The following outlines the Chamberlain’s logic as presented by Nozick (Pg 160-161) 1. There exists a patterned distribution D1, which is a favorite patter of non-entitlement conception of justice 2. Wilt Chamberlain, a skilled basketball player who attracts home crowds, signs a contract where 0.25 is put apart for every home game for him 3. Since people are excited to see him play, they freely contribute 0.25 towards Wilt Chamberlain. 4. Thus, if let’s say a million people come to watch, Chamberlain ends up with 250,000, which is more than everyone else. 5. Since the distribution D1 no longer holds, there exist a new distribution where everyone has 0.25 less than original and Wilt Chamberlain has 250,000 more than original 6. Since, all exchanges were done with willing participants there was no injustice done in order for the new distribution to come into place, and therefore D2 is a just distribution.
Now, in order to revert to D1, the wealth acquired by Chamberlain would have to be taken away and redistributed to its original form. In doing so, Chamberlain’s rights to his wealth would be

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