Find solution
Where do steeel come from?

Where does the right to own property come from?

  • Do they come from God? Do they come from common sense? Do they come from biology? Do they come via evolution? Do they come from somewhere else? How should we think about where they should come from and why? Why do they come from wherever they come from and not some other place?

  • Answer:

    Another interpretation (which comes from David Graeber so this might be a more anarchist view) is that property rights are simply a set of agreements between people with a system of force to back it up. So for example, if I own a toothbrush, all that means is that I can do whatever I want with it but no one else can, and if you try and take it form me other people will recognize that you're violating an agreement and possibly intervene with force. If i were stranded on a desert island by myself, it would make no sense to talk about which objects belong to me and which don't, just as it would make no sense to talk about which corners of the island I own and which I don't. I can't just walk into my neighbor's house because that would be violating our agreement, and this collective agreement has force (the law) to back it up. Again, if everyone else in my city were to suddenly disappear, I would soon stop thinking about which places and objects belong to me. So property rights definitely don't come from god or evolution; there have been very different property arrangements in different societies across time, from nomads with no concept of land ownership to absolute monarchy to what we have today. Also, you can think about things like land-reform and revolutions as basically being re-negotiations of existing property agreements. I would say that property is nothing more then a set of agreements between people about who gets to use what, how they get to use is (you can't build a nuclear power plant in your back yard) and what will happen if you violate these agreements (the police comes after you).

Murat Keyder at Quora Visit the source

Was this solution helpful to you?

Other answers

There is the Marxist theory (for all the faults, Marx and Engels were very good sociologists and thinkers) For Engels, civilizational change by way of a nomadic lifestyle to cattle-rearing (domesticating animals) to agriculture to the time men started regarding surplus produce et al. as "property" changed the communal nature of property, social interactions and relations with women. The idea of monogamy developed as a way to protect the "property" for the progeny. While this limited the free choices of an individual with regard to women, it served to accumulate property.  The heroic Greeks of yore are thought to have  legitimized private property through the concept of State; such a legitimization contributed to class divisions such as the nobility and the common. Of course, Engels takes it further to express Marxist ideas of family et al. but Marx regarded private property as essential to states of evolution. http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1884/origin-family/index.htm

Ramakrishnan Parthasarathy

I would think from biology. Bird's have their own nests, bear's their own dens, etc. If I own land with a house on it, I'm likely to feel more secure than if I have to rent. There's also the aspect of status or where one is in relation to the rest of the members of the pack., i.e. "I have the nicest house!" There is also the aspect of being clear on who's toothbrush, or house or car it is. One of the reasons why it's so difficult to have a successful commune where everything is shared, is that very often the residents find themselves doing a lot of bickering over chores, what to plant, how to plant it, how often the bathroom should be cleaned and who cleans it. Who gets to sit in the comfy chair. Life is much simpler and in some ways more efficient if a committee isn't involved. IMO, everything boils down to security, status and belonging. Owning a home in a desired neighborhood fits all three imperatives.

Amy Mullen

I suppose there's some biological support for it.  Many other species understand the concept of territory.  This isn't exactly the same as private property in the sense we now think of it.  But that could be the origins.  Our concept of private property comes from the first societies we formed.  Agriculture allowed large communities to be supported in a single location with leisure time for other activities.  This also meant permanent locations and homes.  People developed an idea of ownership for their homes and things and space around them.  It's not a far stretch from the baser instinct of owning a territory or even a mate.

Clayburn Griffin

I think it all starts from the very fundamental delusion of identifying this body as our own (or sometimes even as our self). As we grow up, we tend to identify more things associated with the body into the list of possessions we own. In other words, the sense of "my house" is an extension of the same sentiments as "my hands" and "my eyes"

Raman Divakaran

Related Q & A:

Just Added Q & A:

Find solution

For every problem there is a solution! Proved by Solucija.

  • Got an issue and looking for advice?

  • Ask Solucija to search every corner of the Web for help.

  • Get workable solutions and helpful tips in a moment.

Just ask Solucija about an issue you face and immediately get a list of ready solutions, answers and tips from other Internet users. We always provide the most suitable and complete answer to your question at the top, along with a few good alternatives below.