Question

What are Locke’s three criteria for justifying private property? In your answer be sure to give the ethical dimensions for each, as well as state the empirical condition he made clear

Answer 1

The English physician and philosopher John Locke mentions in the 2nd Treaties of Government (work of political philosophy) that human beings have a right of private property in the form of an enforceable and natural right that they get by being in nature. According to Locke, God created both worldly resources and human beings. Men may exert labor upon the natural resources and have a natural right to property. The views of Locke (also termed as the Labour Theory of Property) justify the “Homestead” principal as well. According to homestead principal, a man will get the permanent ownership of a property or natural resource when he performs the act of appropriation and is the first at it. Locke says that all men are created by God and the preservation of mankind is the fundamental law of nature. All men have a right as well as the obligation of self-preservation and self-ownership. He also stresses that men would have starved themselves even after having all the resources if they would have waited for permissions. Because originally nobody could have possessed a private property or dominion, Locke says that labor is the primary and first condition that can be used for validating private ownership.

While human beings may be granted right to private property by God, there are also three conditions/criteria that should be sufficed for the justification of private ownership of the world resources, according to Locke.

First Criteria

Locke’s first criteria regarding human ownership and labor are that God gave the world and its resources to men, and for benefiting themselves and mankind. Locke finds labor as an extension of self-ownership only and says that it not only increases private property but also adds to the stock of the whole of mankind. Locke says that labor is the catalyst that when combined with ownership can give rise to new products.

But ambiguity occurs when Locke liaise improvement of a product with its ownership. Also, there may be more than one contributors involved in an improvement process, and therefore there may be no criteria for providing sole ownership. Therefore, proper criteria should be laid to decide the limits of entitlement and ownership.

Second Criteria

The second criteria or condition introduced by Locke was the “non-worsening” situation. Men can create value through their labor. If one percent of natural resource is used for producing a product, 99% of it may be formed through the use of labor. This can be as good as owning a hundred percent of the property or product created. Such value creation also does not deteriorates/worsens the situation of others.

While this theory may have merits in the short term, it may be difficult to know whether the condition of others has improved or worsened in the long run. Also, labor may cause a commonly shared good to be held privately. Private ownership may not be good for all the people. But any deviation will reduce the desire/motivation of people to innovate and to create something new.

Third Criteria

The third criteria or condition given by Locke is the nonspoilage condition. Locke says that God has granted men all the resources that they can utilize for themselves, and can also improve them for the good of mankind. It may be wrong to neglect this grant and favor given by God. Labour main bi unpleasant and the only justification for motivation for it may be the expectation, value, or outcomes it has. Therefore, people should enjoy all the compensation and rewards they get for their labor and property. Locke also supports money, as it cannot be spoilt and may be a perfect substitution as well. But when property and value generated is exchanged for money (which cannot be spoilt), it goes against the grant of the god. Once money creeps into the system, the resources may not be free to be used for all the people.

According to Locke, ownership of private property is a right of human beings that comes from the state of nature and God. Humans can appropriate property and worldly resources while meeting the three indispensable conditions/criteria. But these criteria do not support the holding of unlimited private property, which Lock seems to indirectly support.