own ( Pk, Eb, <Fm,Fa,Fc,Fb>, <Uk,Uc> )
would mean that Katrina (Pk), the owner of the bubbles (Eb),
decides whether she herself (Uk) or her brother Christopher
(Uc) makes (Fm), admires (Fa), catches (Fc), or breaks (Fb)
the bubbles, which about exhausts the uses of bubbles. For
a more adult example, consider the new phenomenon of
vacation condominium time sharing:
own ( Pj, <Ec January>, Fh, Uu) - oT
would mean that the January owner (Pj) decides which users
(U) can have habitation use (Fh) of the condominium (Ec),
but only during the month of January. Note the restrictions
on the uses of the condominium that Pj has control over. He
cannot remodel it, or manufacture something there, or
.estroy it. Also, the event he owns is defined in time.
Other than January, he is not the owner. More generally,
the rights vested by ownership tend to be limited rather
than absolute, and need not entail control over all uses of
an object or event with respect to all other agents (Hecht,
1964).
Although other frameworks of ownership might be
developed, this one does highlight important characteristics
of the concept. First of all, it is evident that ownership
has a political quality , i.e. people controlling people.
The primary relationship may not be between the owner and
the object he owns, but between the owner and the