History of ideas is simply a branch of research that gives a deep insight into human ideas in terms of expression of ideas, preservation of cultures and change of these ideas over a period of time. In general, it is closely related to intellectual history. This article is purely a summary of the analysis and critique of Locke’s second Treatise of government about property ownership. According to Filmer’s theory of patriarchalism, that suggests that; only absolute monarch descended from Adam, have the right to property. This is because he is the only being that God gave total dominion over all the land, something Locke totally disagrees and vows to spend most of writing in disapproving this theory. His stand has made some historical scholars,
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Everything including land was assigned a certain value. Gold was equated a certain value and could buy anything including land, food and even human labour. Unfortunately, this led to the emergence of men yeaning for more and more. Locke strongly opposes this form of ownership. He argues that when, man cultivates land, and it yields something that in turn will benefit him and his close members. But when one acquires a large piece of land and leaves it uncultivated is a waste of resources. In my own opinion, Locke, is not of the fact that no man should own property, but he argues that, since Adam and heirs did not have total ownership of the whole land, then man also should be entitled to a particular piece of land depending on his hard work and labour but not on a value associated with …show more content…
Thus amassing wealth by assigning it a certain value of gold is termed as an unscrupulous way of obtaining ownership. For example, America has a vast uncultivated land, simply because land is communally owned and assigned a price equal to either bread, wine and clothes something that man can get out of his own labor (Locke et al., 72).
Generally, Locke’s ideas on second treatise can be seen as a contrast between life before and after the introduction of the value of money. Equity, and harmony and harmony were the essential elements in the society before the introduction of money value. Hoarding was highly discouraged and everyone got his food out of his own labour. However, due to the introduction of money value in the name of gold or silver, men began to amass large tracts of land. And as this continued, land become a limited commodity, leading to civil unrest then colonization and finally creation of a civil government (Mandelker et al., 246).
Everything including land was assigned a certain value. Gold was equated a certain value and could buy anything including land, food and even human labour. Unfortunately, this led to the emergence of men yeaning for more and more. Locke strongly opposes this form of ownership. He argues that when, man cultivates land, and it yields something that in turn will benefit him and his close members. But when one acquires a large piece of land and leaves it uncultivated is a waste of resources. In my own opinion, Locke, is not of the fact that no man should own property, but he argues that, since Adam and heirs did not have total ownership of the whole land, then man also should be entitled to a particular piece of land depending on his hard work and labour but not on a value associated with …show more content…
Thus amassing wealth by assigning it a certain value of gold is termed as an unscrupulous way of obtaining ownership. For example, America has a vast uncultivated land, simply because land is communally owned and assigned a price equal to either bread, wine and clothes something that man can get out of his own labor (Locke et al., 72).
Generally, Locke’s ideas on second treatise can be seen as a contrast between life before and after the introduction of the value of money. Equity, and harmony and harmony were the essential elements in the society before the introduction of money value. Hoarding was highly discouraged and everyone got his food out of his own labour. However, due to the introduction of money value in the name of gold or silver, men began to amass large tracts of land. And as this continued, land become a limited commodity, leading to civil unrest then colonization and finally creation of a civil government (Mandelker et al., 246).