34. “Departurism and the Libertarian Axiom of Gentleness”
by Sean Parr
Abstract: When there exists a situation in which a non-criminal trespasser is ceasing his property-directed aggression (that is, when he is in the act of stopping the crime of trespassing), departurism contends that libertarian law ought to require that the owner of the property in question allow for this trespasser to complete the process of his departure from the premises just in case death is the result of his eviction. Because such a case is relevantly similar to the case of a trespass within the womb (and because allowing for such a trespasser to depart in this situation is the gentlest manner possible consistent with stopping the crime) the same course of action ought to be endorsed by libertarian legal theory in either case.
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A wonderful piece of rational thought.
The example that I have always considered was the downed airplane pilot. Circumstances far beyond their control place them in the middle of someone else’s property.
I guess one of the issues I have with the departurism scenario / analogy as set forth by Mr. Parr is that trespass on a physical piece of property does not require the same level of sacrifice on the part of the property owner that pregnancy demands of a woman. Pregnancy inflicts both emotional and physical demands on a woman’s body that she may not wish to incur (or may at some point after conception decide she no longer wishes to incur). These costs can literally kill the woman; a cost Mr. Parr’s property owner in S1 is not forced to consider.