Single Idea 23048

[catalogued under 25. Social Practice / C. Rights / 4. Property rights]

Full Idea

It is not the power of forcible tenure but the power of utilisation for social ends that is the ground of the permanent recognition that constitutes a right to property.

Gist of Idea

The ground of property ownership is not force but the power to use it for social ends

Source

report of T.H. Green (Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligation [1882]) by John H. Muirhead - The Service of the State III

Book Reference

Muirhead,John H.: 'The Service of the State: T.H. Green' [John Murray 2021], p.79


A Reaction

Tell that to the aristocratic owners of British grouse moors! This just seems to be wishful thinking. Does that mean that I have no right to property if my ends are not 'social'?