. When this historical entitlement theory is conjoined to a theory of self-ownership, it constitutes the libertarian theory of justice, a theory which identifies justice with the rightful entitlement of persons to themselves and to certain objects that they acquire by specified means and to the freedom to use both as they choose. As such, it is more than merely a theory of distributive justice, for it delineates what it takes to be an exhaustive list of rights, some of which are distributive or economic rights, but one of which is a right of self-ownership which implies a right of self-governance or personal liberty. Moreover, this exhaustive list specifies, according to the libertarian, both the purpose of governmental activity (namely, the protection of those rights on this list), as well as its legitimate boundaries (i.e., the obligation to protect only those rights and the duty to refrain from violations of them). While various aspects of this libertarian conception of justice