Abstract

In this dissertation, I concur with John Locke's critics, who charge that he first set up natural law to limit the amount of property individuals may own and then found a way to allow people to circumvent those limits. However, Locke's property theory does have some merits. It has generated a large amount of productivity; it is just in the sense that it gives laborers what is due to them; and it is based on a Christian premise that holds, originally, the world is given to all humans. In my dissertation, I will try to combine these elements with Christian love to formulate a Lockean-Christian property theory. ;The outline of my argument is the following: Chapter one points out that there is almost a consensus, even among the socialists, that some kind of private property rights is needed for humans to function adequately. Chapter two reviews the history of church teaching on property rights, arguing that a theory which both affirms and limits property rights can be developed from this tradition. Chapter three discusses the theme of Locke's theory of property. It stresses the importance of his Christian premise and provisos for appropriation. In chapter four, I try to formulate a Lockean-Christian theory of property. I believe even a revised Lockean theory of property that stresses original communism, the labor theory of property, and the Lockean proviso would still be inadequate for the society. For though such a theory gives people what is due to them, and is able to offer a more egalitarian and ecological oriented social policy, it needs the complement of Christian love, which involves sacrificing the individual's rights for the good of others. It concerns not only with whether people get what they deserve, but also whether they receive what they truly need