Property Debate Between Locke Rousseau - 1103 Words

Introduction John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau, two philosophers with differing opinions concerning the concept of private property. Rousseau believes that from the state of nature, private property came about, naturally transcending the human situation into a civil society and at the same time acting as the starting point of inequality amongst individuals. Locke on the other hand argues that private property acts as one of the fundamental, inalienable moral rights that all humans are entitled to. Their arguments clearly differ on this basic issue. This essay will discuss how the further differences between Locke and Rousseau lead from this basic fundamental difference focusing on the acquisition of property and human rights.†¦show more content†¦In the state of nature property does not exist. Only once man has developed tools and has a basic formation of living together as a community, does the concept of property arise with men building huts. As soon as this idea of property comes about, so do arguments and conflict. Rousseau draws on the idea that the act of agriculture and cultivating of land brings with it civilized men but at the same time ruining humanity. Eventually all land is occupied by humans and the only way one is able to obtain land is to steal it. Those who have land already, the rich, namely those who have attempted to obtain more land and those who do not have any land, the poor, in desperation of survival also try to obtain by stealing from the rich. This state of war is a situation occurring in an established civil society. Locke disagrees with this greedy situation as according to his theory, there would be no competition amongst men. Men, by the law of nature are only be allowed to appropriate and own as much as he could use because those resources would end up rotting and being wasted, leading to a liable punishment. Consequently there is never any excessive ownership of land or resources. Therefore other people still have plenty resources to appropriate and thus there is no need for quarrelling. Locke’s argument for appropriating labour is based on the principle that each person is free to appropriate land in the same way as the previous person.Show MoreRelatedThe Tradition Of Dogma And Despotism938 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the period dubbed the long century between 1685-1815. Scientific, political and philosophical understanding experienced a radical reconstruction. The venerable traditions of dogma and despotism began to be denounced and rebutted. Age-old political institutions bec ame the focal point of intellectual discussion and the ideas developed from these debates formed the fundamental components of modern democracy and Communism. 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