The origins of property rights: a comparison on the basis of John Locke's concept of property and his natural law limits based on reason.

In this thesis, I argue that if we are to search for well-founded solutions for the preservation of our natural community, natural resources, animals, and mankind as a whole, modern society must reassess the current positive common law of property and if possible, the source of the problem. A good start would be to examine one of the recognised foundations of the governmental property law, John Locke, who is credited with the notion of protecting individual property rights as inherent rights based on natural law. Locke is also considered by many authors to be the source of the unlimited accumulation of property. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate that Locke not only confirms the validity of natural law limits espoused by the natural law teachers before his time, but also goes further to corroborate, reinforce, and develop such limits as necessary for his philosophy of property to be valid and lasting