Political Essay
ljj
LockeMay13.pptxLocke on property (Second Treatise, ch. 5)
Highly innovative argument: 2 separate claims
Property is a natural right, prior to civil law
Unlimited right of acquisition
Why is it innovative?
Simultaneous appeal to reason and revelation
Purpose of government for Locke: protection of life, liberty, and above all, property (325, 328, 332, etc).
1
The argument:
Human beings given earth for enjoyment by God
Mandate to develop the earth (p. 276)
We have to invest in productive activity (p. 277)
We own ourselves
We own our own labor
Therefore, we own the fruits of our labor (pp. 274-275)
2
Natural limits to appropriation:
Sufficiency limitation (p. 277)
Spoilage limitation (p. 276)
This is why property is a “natural” right for Locke
BUT the invention of money changes everything! (p. 286)
How?
Radical inequality is now possible, since money allows hoarding without spoilage
Thus, by using money, we have tacitly consented to inequality
Why? Because it increases productivity (p. 279)
3
Locke’s Puritan ethic: industry and rationality
(See “Labour,” pp. 440-442, and “Draft of a Representation Containing a Scheme for the Employment of the Poor,” pp. 446-461)
Cause of poverty? P. 447. “relaxation of discipline, corruption of manners, idleness and vice instead of virtue and industry.”
“Begging drones…live unnecessarily upon others’ labor” p. 448.
the solution to poverty for Locke? P. 448-9: Put idle vagabonds in the poorhouse, disciplined hard work and industry!
Property qualification for voting rights: in order to participate in public life, you must be industrious and rational.
4
