Aristotle & Locke on Property

Aristotle's treatment of the forms of property begins, not with a discussion of real (land) or personal (movable) property but rather with a discussion of slaves as property. What is crucial is that slaves are considered to be a part of the "life of the household and its activity, rather than with production: he [the slave] does not help in the making of things, but in [master] and all its activities. . . . [T]he slave, but also the things which he tends, belong to the area of living and the activities of living rather than to those of production" (Barker 11). In the preamble to Chapter V, Aristotle cites the master's rational soul as an instrument of authority and rule over the slave as a part of nature, and in the preamble to Chapter VIII continues: "Nature intends and provides the requisites for household use [including slaves]; and the acquisition of such requisites is a natural mode of acquisition" (Aristotle 18). Indeed, Aristotle refers to the "art of acquiring property" (19, et passim) as arising from nature,

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e behavior of property "art of acquisition," however, Locke focuses on reason as the basis for discussing how the very concept of private property as a matter of right evolved. Whereas Aristotle's description of different kinds of property leads to an assessment of their relative moral or ethical value, Locke's discussion begins by assigning relative rational or moral weight to concepts of property, and then showing how property ought to be understood: "I shall endeavour to shew, how men might come to have a property in several parts of that which God-gave to mankind in common, and that without any express compact of all the commoners" (Locke 18). Locke's view of human reason, sanctioned by biblical revelation from Psalms that God "has given the earth to the children of men" (18), is the basis for the impulse toward acquiring goods. The impulse toward survival is held in common by all rational beings; accordingly, all such beings have a right to acquire from the common property that which will help them survive. This idea can be compared to Aristotle's view of subsistence-centered property relative to serving basic human needs. But Locke takes reason further, noting that the same God who gave human beings the world "hath also
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Approximate Word count = 2732
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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