• Franz Liszt
    27
    I am not certain if this question really fits under Political Philosophy, I feel it fits better into philosophy of law as this is the kind of question they would often ask in Ancient Rome, however where I categorise this needn’t be an issue.

    If my bird lays an egg in your garden, who does it belong to?

    The question here is whether property of the bird is more important than property of the place the bird lays an egg.
    Instead of handling this question as it is, I will ask a further question. If my bird lays an egg in my garden, why do I own it? I suppose I would argue that I own the bird, therefore the eggs are mine. I doubt many would argue that they are mine because they were laid in my own garden. Here it seems that property of the bird is more important than where the eggs are laid.

    Suppose my bird lays an egg on the street (a place that no one owns) then do the eggs belong to me? I would still argue that they do. Property requires a property holder, and if those eggs belong to no one then are they up for grabs? I have more claim over those ‘unclaimed’ eggs because the bird is mine, something no one else can claim. Again, here it seem property of the bird is more important.

    Alternatively, if an unclaimed bird lays an egg in my garden, I own those eggs because even of those eggs are ‘unclaimed’, they have a stronger connection to me, which no one else has.

    I could go on and on with examples which show conflicting results, but let me just add one more thing. If I give birth in your house, does the baby belong to you? I would doubt that anyone would argue that it is, but I have difficulty explaining how.

    So, do the eggs of my bird belong to me if they were laid in another garden?
  • 0 thru 9
    1.5k
    The egg belongs to neither you nor me. The egg belongs to the bird. (duh... lol).
  • Franz Liszt
    27
    lol, it’s a thought experiment
  • Hanover
    12k
    This really is a legal question, not a thought experiment. It is answered by looking at the laws in the jurisdiction where the issue has arisen.

    In the US, wildlife does not belong to anyone. A deer on your land is not your deer. If you own a bird, it's not wildlife, so its moving about from place to place doesn't change your ownership interest. Should I sit on your couch, my pants don't belong to you, my dog doesn't rapidly change owners as it runs through the neighborhood, and my car doesn't belong to you while it sits in your driveway. Location doesn't determine ownership interests as a general principle.

    If your pecan tree sheds pecans onto my land, those pecans are mine as would be a sapling pecan tree should a pecan from your tree take root and grow on my land. My remedy to alleviate the pecans falling in my yard would be to cut the branches over the property line where it extends into mine because those branches are mine. The rule related to plants is not the rule that applies to animals running about.

    As to the egg, should your chickens free range onto my land and lay their eggs, the chickens do not become mine, nor would their eggs become mine. I see no meaningful distinction between a chicken that leaves behind her egg, a dog that leaves behind her collar, or a person who leaves behind his cell phone.
  • Pierre-Normand
    2.2k
    This ancient conundrum has a modern variant that has been articulated by the American philosopher D. J. Trump. "If a Russian hoe who Rudy hired peed on me, why should it be me who foots the dry cleaning bill?"
  • Franz Liszt
    27
    thank you, this was an informative response :)
  • TheMadFool
    13.8k
    If my bird lays an egg in your garden, who does it belong to?Franz Liszt

    We can look at it from the perspective of necessary conditions. Can the egg be without my bird? No! Can the egg be without your garden? Yes! Ergo, in terms of necessary conditions, the egg is yours. My bird was necessary condition for the egg but your garden is a contingent condition. The egg would've been laid whether your garden existed or not but the egg would definitely not have been laid without my bird. Therefore, the egg is mine and not yours.

    Another way to look at it is if we make the center of the controversy something undesirable like so: If my dog pooped in your garden, who does the poop belong to? I'm sure you'll have absolutely no doubt who the dog poop belongs to - me of course. :joke:
  • tim wood
    8.7k
    Moby Dick, chapter 89, Fast Fish and Loose Fish.

    "I. A Fast-Fish belongs to the party fast to it.
    II. A Loose-Fish is fair game for anybody who can soonest catch it."

    The chicken is a fast fish, it's owner merely not having by some manifest event lost those rights. But the egg is a loose fish.
  • scientia de summis
    25

    If my bird lays an egg in your garden, who does it belong to?Franz Liszt

    As many have said, I believe this comes down to law, however as you touched on-

    If I give birth in your house, does the baby belong to you?Franz Liszt

    The thing is, I believe the difference is that there are four factors in the first example-you, the bird, the egg and I-but in the second example-you, the baby and I.
    So I would of course argue that the baby is yours, as would almost anyone else, however that's not what's being asked in the first question. In the first point, the question is of whether it belongs to you or I, but to build on @0 thru 9

    The egg belongs to neither you nor me. The egg belongs to the bird. (duh... lol).0 thru 9

    Of course, while I believe wholely in animal rights, as law goes, the egg does not belong to the bird, rendering these two arguments unparallel, however if you were to say "If my underaged daughter of whom I still have responsibility gives birth in your house, who does the baby belong to?"
    Of course, I would still say me until my daughter is of age, and so, even if it is not the case by law, I would say in any modern, civilised society, the egg should belong to the bird, but if not, then you.
  • Franz Liszt
    27
    Thank you. This is a good answer
  • Hanover
    12k
    my underaged daughter of whom I still have responsibility gives birth in your house, who does the baby belong to?"scientia de summis

    There's some equivocation here.

    Parental and guardian rights are very different from the rights one has to chattel, like eggs. People don't (rightly) own people. So, when you say a baby belongs to its parent versus saying a car belongs to its owner, you're using the term "belongs" very differently.
  • Khalid
    6
    Generally a thing could belong to you on the account of the labor you have put into it. The same does not apply to humans.
  • New2K2
    71
    Late to this but if your bird lays an egg, the egg belongs to the bird who belongs to you, so the egg is yours.
  • Banno
    23.1k
    Property is a social construct; who owns what is decided by convention.

    Looks to me as if you mistook a question of convention for a question of ontology.
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