The term 'property' in Locke's Two Treatises of Government

Abstract

Examines the origins of Locke’s definition and use of the term ‘property’. In the seventeenth century, the concept of suum, or that which belongs to an individual, was an important aspect of natural law doctrine. According to Grotius the suum consisted of life, body, liberty, reputation, and one’s own actions. Human will could extend the suum to include material objects.