Session 5: Locke's political theory leading to modern day property law

Locke’s ‘Second Treatise of Government’ is one of the seminal yet controversial works of political philosophy to date.

The central premise of Locke’s arguments was based on freedom namely that of liberty and property. Locke’s account of the ‘natural state’ of human nature or the ‘Lockean’ state is one of natural equality. From this stems Locke’s theory of unilateral appropriation of property that formed the basis of Rousseau’s ‘Social Contract’ and the counter to which laid the foundations of modern labor economics and Marxism.

One of the most significant aspects of Locke’s Theory of Property is the contrast of human condition before and after the introduction of money. Money plays a crucial role in Locke’s theory of property. Locke argues that before its introduction, the equality of men was mirrored in the equal rights to acquire property. Conflict was limited by the fact that no one could acquire in excess to what their labor yielded given the perishable nature of goods.

However, money in the form of gold or silver provided an imperishable substitute that soon transformed transactions. There was now an incentive to acquire an excess of property because it could be exchanged for money that was not perishable. This proliferated conflict over the now scarce property that facilitated the need for a government to protect property rights. So, it can be said that Locke laid down the foundations of the role of government related to property rights.