Owning the Intangible: Philosophical Foundations for Navigating Intellectual Property

Abstract

The intersection of intangible human ingenuity and the material world complicates owning and interpreting intellectual property. By exploring Lockean, Utilitarian, Kantian, and Hegelian theory, I argue Hegel’s view of property supplements Western ideas of ownership and navigates ‘information-age’ shifts from tangible to intangible objects.