How does Locke define "property"? Why is the definition of property so essential to the Treatise, and how does that definition correspond to our perception of property today?
Deadline: Monday (10/19), start of class.
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Locke ultimately defines property as the products of labor produced by the instrument known as man. The labor and care that he invests into sowing a field or protecting his possession "joins [them] to something that is his own, and thereby makes [them] his property"(397). Man's labor is what "put[s] a distinction between [man's property] and common [property]" (397.
This understanding of property is so key to the Treatise as it enables the reader to understand why men have, historically, undergone such great lengths to achieve this natural contract into civil society. In effort to preserve the rightful properties of every individual man, men surrender the freedom of their natural state (and the lack of safety that accompany it) in order to protect their properties (403). Such a view is concurrent in today's society as, overall, men continue to abide by common laws in order to maintain the preservation of their safety, property, and privacy.
Property is born from the hand blistering and back disfiguring labour that humans endure. The work and dedication that people devote into converting Nature, from its savage and inhabitable form, into a usable and prosperous state is astonishing. However, the property that humans procure is not necessarily theirs to keep unless protected and maintained. As Locke writes "Man being born,...of Nature equally with any other man or number of men in the world, hath by nature a power not only to preserve his property--that is, his life, liberty, and estate--against the injuries and attempts of other men"(399). In order for man to protect his property he must render it to the power of the community who, in the process, will harness the accumulated power of individuals to ensure their freedom. Furthermore, the reason property is so essential to the "Treatise" is because without property there would be no community, and without a community there would be no reason for self-government; property along with freedom provide the foundation of our current society.
I agree with Alonzo that property is truly at the heart of Locke's essay and his argument with regards to government and the self worth of man. If man did not have some sort of property, he would not find it necessary to defend it in the form of governmental representation. Locke even backs up this idea that man was given property that joins himself to the nature of mankind in saying "God, when he gave the world in common to all mankind, commanded man also to labor, and the penury of his condition required it of him."(398). He continues to say that God gave man property to take care of and thus take part in holding the responsibility of caring for God's creation in that matter.
All the definitions so far of property have been pretty spot on. Property of a man includes anything that he labors for, whether it be from the common property available to everyone. The extra effort put in to making it one's property gives him ownership of it; to pick the apples and chop the wood include actions and therefore become rightfully his. Property can also be defined as preservation of a lifestyle, the right to live, and the liberties given to man by a Creator. This observation of property, as discussed in Chapter IX, is what should convince man to be part of an established government. It is true that he can have entire freedom and doesn't have to answer to any one, but this is a very "natural" state to be living in, and one that is not without fear. For fear of his property being taken, he agrees to have mutual respect for his neighbor's property. Thus, he is technically only under the 'power' of a government created by him for his own protection and for his own benefit. "This makes him willing to quit this condition, which, however free, is full of fears and continual dangers; and it is not without reason that he seeks out and is willing to join in society with others..." (403).
Going along with what Julia said about ownership coming from the extra effort of the laborer, God specifically gave the land with the intentions of it to be put to use for the betterment of the community. As the extra effort is put forth, the community becomes closer to the perfect society in which Locke is writing about. As Locke says God gave man the world for their own benefit so they could grow and develop, he says God "gave it to the use of the industrious and rational (and labor was to be his title to it), not to the fancy or covetousness of the quarrelsome and contentious (398-399)." In order to develop a good and strong community, the leaders and members in it need to be hardworking and have a good head on their shoulders as opposed to coveting the land and fighting over it. So, in relation to the entire "Treatise," "property" in itself, as Alonzo said, builds a good basis for the overall community, through building the necessary individual, "industrious", and societal, not "quarrelsome," skills. And this community, however inherently good it can be, is just one small aspect of the overall improvement of the country's government.
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