Volenti non fit iniuria: consent, productive exchange and fair price in robert nozick’s anarchy, state, and utopia

Summary

This paper focuses on two aspects of Nozick’s theory of contracts presented in Anarchy, State, and Utopia: the voluntariness and productivity of exchange. It will be argued that, without detriment to the general success of his theory of exchange, the narrow notion of voluntary act which Nozick assumes leads him to counterintuitive conclusions, excluding possible links between commutative and distributive justice. Moreover, the relevance of the requirement of productivity of exchange demanded by Nozick will be defended as a way to alleviate the diffi culties that derive from his narrow notion of voluntary act in contractual matters. It will be held, fi nally, that there is a correlation between his demands for productivity and the general principles of this particular work and, especially, that there is coherence between these demands and the “underlying Kantian principle” that works as general inspiration of this book