Property Rights

The intellectual debate regarding property rights is very fascinating. What can people own individually and what things can only be owned collectively? The concept of private property is a well ingrained concept in American philosophy. But when the general public thinks about property rights they conceive of tangible items that have per se come to be recognized as a private property: ones home is a great example. What about intellectual property? If I discover the cure to AIDS is it just or my right to refuse to share my discovery on the grounds of private property? If I discover the code to a human gene can I patent it as my property? The last one is interesting because we like to believe that the code to a human gene is discovered no created. In other words, if it is discovered that means it has always existed. Is there a difference between things that are discovered and things that are created? In other words, can we give equality to things that are different?

I personally believe in private property. Reason being, private ownership and the benefits that we derive from it motivates individuals to invest their resources (time,money, energy, etc)to discover and create new property. I'm not confident enough to say that people own certain property because they discovered it or created it per se, but the utility derived from private property is a benefit to society as a whole.