On Property Rights In The Context Of Conquest—a Study Of Locke's Political Thoughts

Locke's theory of Property lies in the law of nature which requires people to work hard and fulfill the claim of the self-preservation in God's commands.At the same time,on the ground of consent,people hold the private right of property which cannot be acquired by force in both of the state of nature and the state of civil society.Then Locke supposes that everyone can defend their divine right of property with the help of force when facing an unjust violator.In consequence,according to the law of nature,the just conqueror could have the right of compensation within his loss and expense of war,whereas he should not seizure the property of the conquered.On the account of the moral requirements of the law of nature,all men supposed to protect humankinds when their own life is certainly safe.When the conqueror claims for his redress,he ought to give priority to the properties of the wives and children of the conquered.This paradigm of the arrangement of property in the conquest circumstance may not be easily put into practice,as Locke talks about various violation of the law of nature;the mode seems to be much more ideal.Nevertheless,Locke still holds a positive expectation for human nature and he regards human beings as rational individuals who are not predominated by desire.