IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/car/carecp/01-01.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Property Rights in the History of Economic Thought: From Locke to J.S. Mill

Author

Abstract

This paper is designed to acquaint the reader with the historical background of the concept of property rights and several surrounding controversies by reviewing early work on property by economists and philosophers (with the main emphasis on the former). The survey focuses on significant contributions from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, setting the stage for the following chapters that reflect more recent thinking. The first section offers a critical assessment of the seventeenth-century work of John Locke which, to this day, has provoked the most intensive discussion and controversy. The second section attempts to detect Lockean natural law or natural rights components in the influential writings of Adam Smith, the eighteenth-century father of economics. The third section analyzes Jeremy Bentham’s hostile criticism of the Locke and Smith views on property and his preference for his own philosophy of “utilitarianism,” which can be summed up as the principle of the “pursuit of the greatest happiness. In addition, the third section examines the practical attempt of Bentham’s disciple, Edwin Chadwick, to achieve egalitarian legislation. The fourth section is reserved for the remarkably influential utilitarian (and egalitarian) writer, John Stuart Mill, and explores the connection between him and the “scientific socialists,” including Marx and Engels. The fifth section considers David Hume’s concentration on the initial tendencies to conflict among men and the prospects for ultimate mutual improvement and practical coexistence through market exchange. The final section offers the main conclusions.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwin G. West, 2001. "Property Rights in the History of Economic Thought: From Locke to J.S. Mill," Carleton Economic Papers 01-01, Carleton University, Department of Economics, revised 2003.
  • Handle: RePEc:car:carecp:01-01
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.carleton.ca/economics/wp-content/uploads/cep01-01.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crain, William Mark & Ekelund, Robert B, Jr, 1976. "Chadwick and Demsetz on Competition and Regulation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 149-162, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Helmut Cox, 2008. "PUBLIC ENTERPRISES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS IN INSTITUTIONAL COMPETITION AND UNDERGOING STRUCTURAL CHANGE New challenges to the theory of public economics and public services in Germany," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(3‐4), pages 527-547, September.
    2. Carlo Vittorio FIORIO & Massimo FLORIO & Giovanni PERUCCA, 2011. "Consumers’ satisfaction and regulation of local public transport: evidence from European cities," Departmental Working Papers 2011-26, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.
    3. Ekelund, Robert B. & Dorton, Cheryl, 2003. "Criminal justice institutions as a common pool: the 19th century analysis of Edwin Chadwick," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 271-294, March.
    4. Fiorio, Carlo V. & Florio, Massimo & Perucca, Giovanni, 2013. "User satisfaction and the organization of local public transport: Evidence from European cities," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 209-218.
    5. Frédéric Marty, 2020. "Protecting the competitive process, not a competitive structure Reflections on the book by Nicolas Petit Big Tech and the Digital Economy," Working Papers halshs-03034024, HAL.
    6. Dorigoni, Susanna & Portatadino, Sergio, 2009. "Natural gas distribution in Italy: When competition does not help the market," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 245-257, September.
    7. Robert B. Ekelund Jr & Edward O. Price III, 2012. "The Economics of Edwin Chadwick," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14915.
    8. Michel Mougeot & Florence Naegelen, 2007. "Was Chadwick right?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 30(2), pages 121-137, March.
    9. David Encaoua, 1986. "Réglementation et concurrence : quelques éléments de théorie économique," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 76(5), pages 7-46.
    10. Alice Guerra & Barbara Luppi & Francesco Parisi, 2019. "Productive and unproductive competition: a unified framework," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(3), pages 785-804, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    John Locke; Natural law; Limited liability; John Stuart Mill; Inheritance; Primogeniture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B3 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:car:carecp:01-01. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Court Lindsay (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.