Essay On John Locke Theory Of Property

Introduction

The formulation of a new theory of property in the early seventeenth century by English philosopher John Lock led to considerations of the emergence of private property and subject to ownership, and land that must be cultivated. John Locke developed this idea of property in the context of English’s appropriation of American soil especially. Chapter V of The Second Treatise of Government ‘Of property’ highlights Locke’s ideas about property. This treatise describes the Lockean theory of property as a theory of negative commons, which refers to the rights of all mankind to make use of the natural resources that belong to no one without “any express Compact of all the Commoners.” This develops with the advent of private property – referring to the theory that individuals can alter the status of those natural resources and unowned lands into their own possession, after contributing their labour. In other words, property …show more content…
This idea is that because individuals own their bodies, anything they acquire as a result of physical labour of their bodies becomes their property underpins this conception. Individuals’ work is therefore recognised as an extension of themselves. Locke explains the relationship between the property and labour. He states that a person may claim the right to personal property, once they appropriate and add values or labour into goods to make it more productive. In other words, in order for individual property to exist, individuals must perform some actions of original appropriation. This gives a clear direction to individuals in terms of how to exercise their own rights. In response to this idea of private property, Locke employs the analogy of picking an apple from a tree. He describes that once individuals pick the apple, they become the owner of the apple because they made the effort to pick it from the tree; thus making it their