Single Idea 19873

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 3. Alienating rights]

Full Idea

Every man has a 'property' in his own 'person'. This nobody has any right to it but himself. The 'labour' of his body and the 'work' of his hands, we may say, are properly his.

Gist of Idea

We all own our bodies, and the work we do is our own

Source

John Locke (Second Treatise of Government [1690], 027)

Book Reference

Locke,John: 'Two Treatises of Government' [Everyman 1988], p.130


A Reaction

He doesn't have any grounds for this claim. Why doesn't a cow own its body? He slides from my ownership of my laborious efforts to my ownership of what I have been working on. I can't acquire your car by servicing it.

Related Ideas

Idea 19872 The animals and fruits of the earth belong to mankind [Locke]

Idea 19874 If a man mixes his labour with something in Nature, he thereby comes to own it [Locke]

Idea 19875 A man's labour gives ownership rights - as long as there are fair shares for all [Locke]