The expressive transparency of property

This Essay examines expressive theories of law. In two new books, property theorist Joseph Singer condemns the dominant, absolutist conception of property for failing to express the full range of our values; he suggests its replacement with a model, epitomized by the generous commitment of Malden Mills owner Aaron Feuerstein to rebuild his plant after a catastrophic fire, that expresses not just the powers but the obligations that flow from ownership. After questioning how we interpret what law "says" or "expresses," the Essay asks how we should understand expressivist projects such as Singers, Should we characterize expressivists as idealists, throwing one concept ("ownership obligates") against another ("ownership is freedom") in the naive hope that long entrenched beliefs and understandings will be displaced by the simple demonstration that other beliefs and understandings are plausible? Or should we see them instead as "meaning entrepeneurs, " who cleverly trade on intuitively appealing images such as that of Aaron Feuerstein to disrupt conventional associations between, for example, property and selfishness?