Political Philosophy: Theories of Property and Rights

Vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes detailing property theories from John Locke, David Hume, Karl Marx, Thomas Paine, and David Schmidtz.

John Locke's Theory of Property

The core idea that individuals naturally own themselves and their labor, and that mixing one's labor with natural, unowned resources transforms them into legitimate private property.

Locke's Proviso

The condition on property acquisition stating that when taking resources from nature, one must leave 'enough and as good' for others.

David Hume's View of Property

The theory that property rights are not natural rights, but rather social conventions developed because predictable rules concerning possession, ownership, and transfer are necessary for society to function.

Primitive Accumulation

The historical process in Marxist theory that helped create capitalism, defined primarily by the separation of workers from the means of production.

Bourgeoisie

In Marxist theory, the class of people who own the means of production, capital, and property.

Proletariat

In Marxist theory, the class of wage workers who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor to survive.

Paine's Principle of Compensation

Thomas Paine's argument that because the earth was originally given to humanity in common, society owes people financial compensation out of a national fund as a matter of justice, not charity, for lost natural inheritance.

Bundle of Rights

David Schmidtz's view of property as a collection of institutional rights, including the rights to sell, lend, bequeath, and exclude others.

Unregulated Commons

A resource system where everyone has access, creating an incentive for individuals to overuse resources for personal benefit while spreading the costs to society, ultimately leading to resource depletion.

Positive-Sum Game

A scenario in which individuals can cooperate through institutional structures so that every participant can gain.

Negative-Sum Game

A scenario where participants fail to cooperate effectively, leading to a collective outcome where everyone ends up worse off.

Schmidtz's Reinterpretation of the Proviso

The principle that when resources become scarce, fulfilling the requirement to leave 'enough and as good' may actually require taking resources out of the unregulated commons and regulating access to prevent destruction.

What property do we have a natural right to, according to Locke?

We have a natural right to ourselves and our own labor. Because we own our labor, we can acquire property from nature by applying that labor to it.

According to Locke, how do humans originally acquire property from nature?

By mixing their labor with something from nature that was originally held in common.

What limits does Locke establish for the original acquisition of property?

Locke establishes the Lockean Proviso: you can appropriate property as long as you leave “enough and as good” for others.

How can the validity of a property claim be determined for Locke?

Ask whether the person legitimately acquired it through their labor while respecting the limits of the Lockean Proviso and avoiding waste.

According to Hume, under what circumstances do the rules of property and justice apply?

They apply when resources are scarce and people have competing interests over them.

What value must property rules serve for Hume?

Property rules must serve social utility — they should benefit society by creating stability, predictability, and cooperation.

Why aren't property rights natural for Hume?

Because property rights are created by human conventions. They develop because society needs rules to manage scarce resources and competing interests.

How does Hume analyze the social utility of an equal distribution of property?

Hume argues that equal distribution isn't automatically the most useful arrangement. What matters is whether property rules promote social stability, productivity, and cooperation.

How does Marx distinguish between commodities and capital?

A commodity is something produced for exchange. Capital is wealth/resources used to generate more wealth, especially through production and the employment of labor.

According to Marx, what is the myth and the truth about how capital was originally acquired?

Myth: Capital was created because hardworking, thrifty people saved and accumulated wealth while others were lazy.

Truth: Marx argues that capitalism emerged through a historical process of separating workers from the means of production, including dispossession and coercive historical processes.

According to Marx, what role do property rules play in human history?

Property rules help determine who controls resources and the means of production. They are therefore connected to economic power and class relations.

According to Marx, why is it significant that workers within capitalism do not own the means of production?

Because workers must sell their labor power to people who own the means of production in order to make a living.

What does Paine mean by civilization, and why is it the cause of both great prosperity and great poverty?

Civilization creates systems of production, property, trade, and social organization that allow society to become much more prosperous. But these systems also create inequality, meaning some people become wealthy while others lose access to resources they once had naturally.

According to Paine, why do landowners owe all fellow citizens ground-rent? What natural right is this based upon?

Because the earth originally belonged to everyone in common. When private land ownership takes away others' access to their natural share of the earth, landowners owe society compensation in the form of ground-rent.

According to Paine, why is ground rent owed to every citizen as opposed to being charitable assistance?

Because the payment is based on justice and a natural right, not on the idea that recipients are needy or deserving of charity.

Paine sees compensation as something citizens are owed, not something they are being given out of kindness.

What is the purpose of property laws for Schmidtz? Are they conventions or based upon natural rights for him?

Property laws are institutions that organize how people interact with resources, especially by determining who has the authority to use or exclude others from them. Schmidtz is less focused on proving a natural right to property and more focused on whether property institutions produce beneficial social outcomes. Property institutions can help turn situations where everyone is worse off into situations where people can mutually benefit.

What does Schmidtz mean by negative externalities and positive externalities?

Negative externality: A cost imposed on other people who aren't fully compensated for it.

Positive externality: A benefit that other people receive from someone's actions without necessarily paying for it.

How does Schmidtz describe an ideal society, and how do good property laws contribute to such an ideal?

Schmidtz describes society as a cooperative venture for mutual advantage. A good property system helps people cooperate by creating rules about who gets to make decisions, who bears costs, and who receives benefits. Property institutions can transform negative-sum situations into positive-sum situations, where people can all potentially benefit.