Possession vs. Ownership

There is an important distinction between possession vs. ownership.

If somebody possesses an apple, for example, then they simply have physical control over the apple. It’s not necessarily true that they own, have property rights in, the apple. (The apple could be their friend’s or it could be a stolen apple.)

If somebody owns an apple then they have the right to exclusively control the apple. It isn’t necessarily true either that ownership necessarily entails possession. (The owner might be letting their friend borrow it or the apple might have been stolen.)

For further reading regarding this distinction:

A Critique of Mutualist Occupancy by Stephan Kinsella

What Libertarianism Is by Stephan Kinsella