John Locke: The Justification of Private Property - Book Report/Review Example

READING SUMMARY The Justification of Private Property (page158-162) John Locke’s understanding of property is all that whichgod has given the world to men in common to advantage of his life and convenience. Exclusively no one at all have originally a private dominion of the rest of mankind in any of the property commonly given to all. They therefore should be governed by rules whose point is to make them available for use by all members of the society (Locke & Macpherson, 1980). For a property to privately owned, then it requires labor which is unquestionable the property of the laborer, thus, no one but he can have a right to what this is once joined to.

There should be no quarrel or complain on a property that has been improved by another’s labor, because indeed it is labor that puts the difference of value to any property that makes it desirable to all. Though having a private property gives the laborer the right to make decision regarding what is to be done with the property, he is still controlled by the social rules the ensures that everyone still enjoys even to a lesser extent. It totally concur with john Locke’s stand because it gives a platform for everyone to be ready to work and be able to satisfy the intrinsic nature of accumulation of property (Locke & Macpherson, 1980).

Thus it is assumed that labor, in the beginning, gave a right of property, whenever anyone was pleased to employ it upon what was common, which remained a long while the far greater part, and is yet more than mankind makes use of.2. Benefits of the profit motive (page163-167)Adam Smith asserts that the greatest improvement in the productive powers of labor, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labor (Adam, 1976).

As a practice, division of labor can help in the increase of agility in every particular workman hence high production of goods and services; it also ensures that much time that is always lost attending to unnecessary activities is not lost, and that the little time is efficiently utilized. When more machines are put into used they tend to produce more within the limited time. I do agree with Adam Smith’s position on the division of labor where the production process is broken into a series of stages.

This is because it is in this practice that the right person is assigned to do the right job, hence the organizations are able to exploit the natural talents. Every member is therefore able to grow and bring into perfecting whatever brains they may have in that given organization; as they are they do their job at ease and with great pleasure. It also ensures efficiency as duties are assigned. It is assumed that division of labor facilitates the individual or rather an organization’s economic growth due to reduced cost on account of large scale and higher productivity levels, it also leads to better quality of goods and services to consumers as well (Adam, 1976).

Better quality to him was based on the use value and the exchange value that the product will have at the end after a successive process of production, all these can only be achieved when work is distributed according to interest and individual knowledge and skills.ReferencesAdam Smith (1976).Benefits of the profit motive. The wealth of nationsLocke, J., & Macpherson, C. B. (1980). Second treatise of government. Indianapolis, In [u.a.: Hackett.