John Locke On Property Essays

When accumulating property, man must ensure that there is enough left to satisfy the needs of others.In an apparent response to Locke’s ideas on the origin of private property, Rousseau maintains that man is completely solitary in the unadulterated state of events.In his state of nature, man lacks the ability to identify even their own offspring.

Locke proposes certain principles, which must be adhered to for ownership of land and property to be permissible.

He asserts that man must not harvest from nature in excess of what he can use.

Rousseau’s idea of a man relaxing while eating fruits off a tree and sleeping under the same tree is more idealistic than realistic.

Another concern is that since Rousseau believes that man is solitary as a primitive being, dismissing the threat from wild animals is not very rational.

The necessity of believing without knowledge, nay often upon very slight grounds, in this fleeting state of action and blindness we are in, should make us more busy and careful to inform ourselves than constrain others.

He that will impartially survey the Nations of the World, will find so much of the Governments, Religion, and Manners brought in and continued amongst them by these means, that they will have but little Reverence for the Practices which are in use and credit amongst Men.Rousseau concurs that the state of nature is a largely nonviolent period.However, his revelation of the state of nature is much more appealing.However, a comprehensive theoretical exploration of the concept of private property ownership is credited to relatively modern philosophers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.The writings of Locke and Rousseau on property ownership are quite fascinating to compare.Instead, he makes a convincing argument of a relatively different and primitive man who slowly evolves into a modern version.Locke’s version does not explain the evolution of man until the state of nature.He believes that, in this state, man is only motivated by individual desires and procreates only during accidental encounters with the other sex (Rousseau 63).He is deeply opposed to Locke’s idea of man as a sociable being.However, some of the attributes Rousseau’s gives to ancient man and his life in the state of nature are questionable.One these attributes is that man’s basic desires are mostly satisfied in the state of nature.