Locke on Property: The Labor Theory of Property Rights

John Locke’s theory of property, developed in Chapter V of the Second Treatise of Government (1689), is one of the foundational texts of the modern theory of property rights. The theory develops a labor-based account of the origin and the limits of private property, and it has had a profound influence on the subsequent development of liberal political thought. This article examines the central arguments of Locke’s theory of property, including the labor theory of property, the limits of accumulation, and the implications for modern debates about economic justice.

The Origin of Property

Locke begins his account of property with a description of the state of nature, in which the earth and its fruits are common to all human beings. The question is: how does private property arise from this common condition?

Locke’s answer is the famous labor theory of property: “Every man has a property in his own person. This nobody has any right to but himself. The labour of his body, and the work of his hands, we may say, are properly his. Whatsoever then he removes out of the state that nature hath provided, and left it in, he hath mixed his labour with, and joined to it something that is his own, and thereby makes it his property.”

The argument is that the labor that an individual expends in the cultivation or improvement of a piece of land, or in the gathering or processing of a natural product, adds something of the individual to the thing in question. The individual has mixed his labor with the thing, and the thing thereby becomes his property. The labor is the foundation of the property, and the property is the natural right of the individual who has performed the labor.

The argument is grounded in a more general theory of the foundation of property rights. Property, for Locke, is not a conventional arrangement that depends on the laws of particular states; it is a natural right that arises from the very nature of human beings as free and rational agents. The proper function of government is to protect this natural right, and the government that violates it is acting illegitimately.

The Limits of Accumulation

The labor theory of property, as developed by Locke, is subject to several important limits. The most important is the “sufficiency restriction”: a person may appropriate from the common stock of nature only as much as he can use before it spoils, and he must leave “enough and as good” for others.

The first limit — the spoilage limit — prevents the wasteful accumulation of goods. A person may appropriate only as much as he can use, and he may not allow his property to spoil. The limit is grounded in the natural-law tradition, which holds that human beings have a duty to use the goods of nature productively, not wastefully.

The second limit — the “enough and as good” limit — requires that the appropriation of property from the common stock must leave enough for others. The limit is grounded in the natural-law tradition, which holds that the goods of nature are given by God to all human beings in common, and that no one may appropriate more than his fair share.

These limits were important in the context of the state of nature, where the common stock of nature was abundant and the population was small. But Locke recognized that the limits become difficult to maintain in a more developed society, where the introduction of money allows the accumulation of property without spoilage, and where the population is larger and the pressure on the common stock is greater.

The Introduction of Money

Locke argued that the introduction of money solves the problem of the limits of accumulation. Money, in Locke’s view, is a convention that allows individuals to exchange the products of their labor without the spoilage that would result from the direct exchange of perishable goods. The introduction of money makes possible the accumulation of property, since money does not spoil, and the limits of the state of nature no longer apply.

The introduction of money is, in Locke’s view, a development that is consistent with the principles of the natural law. The natural law allows for the introduction of conventions that make possible the improvement of the human condition, and the introduction of money is one such convention. The introduction of money allows for the development of a market economy, in which the products of labor can be exchanged and accumulated without spoilage.

The argument has been criticized for its apparently apologetic character. The critics have argued that Locke’s theory of property is a justification for the inequalities of the capitalist economic system, and that the supposed “sufficiency restriction” and “enough and as good” limit are abandoned as soon as the introduction of money makes them inconvenient. The critics have argued that Locke’s theory is, in effect, a theory of unlimited capitalist accumulation, dressed up in the language of natural rights.

The Implications for Modern Debates

Locke’s theory of property has had a profound influence on the subsequent development of modern debates about economic justice.

The defenders of Locke’s theory have argued that it provides the philosophical foundation for the modern system of property rights, and that it provides the moral basis for the protection of individual freedom in the economic sphere. The proper function of government, on this view, is the protection of the natural rights of individuals, including the right to acquire and to possess property. The government that violates these rights is acting illegitimately.

The critics of Locke’s theory have argued that it is based on a false conception of property, and that the proper foundation of property rights is not the labor of the individual but the social cooperation that makes production possible. The critics have pointed out that the labor theory of property is incompatible with the modern system of corporate ownership, in which the owners of capital are typically not the workers who have mixed their labor with the product.

The contemporary debate about Locke’s theory of property is part of the broader debate about the proper foundation of economic justice. The defenders of the Lockean tradition emphasize the importance of the protection of individual rights, the limitation of governmental power, and the proper functioning of the market. The critics of the Lockean tradition emphasize the importance of social cooperation, the proper response to the inequalities of the modern economic system, and the proper scope of governmental intervention in the economic sphere.

The Origin of Property

The Limits of Accumulation

The Introduction of Money

The Implications for Modern Debates

Further Reading