In this paper my intention is to discuss Hugo Grotius’ theory of private property. Even though Grotius is one of the most important philosophers in the tradition of natural law, he does not conceive of a property right in terms of a natural right, but, rather, in terms of a manmade institution. The right to own an object was created by men as a development of the natural right to use an object which has no owner. In his argument for a transition from use right to property right Grotius presents the basic elements of a theory of human institutions. Firstly, he elucidates the concept of law, even natural law, as something the existence of which depends on the existence of a will. Secondly, he explains the existence of normative entities, such as private property or territorial boundaries, as resulting from the collective recognition that a certain object has a normative status, not in virtue of its physical properties, but in virtue of a “mental act” performed at a collective basis.
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ARAUJO, Marcelo de: "Hugo Grotius, Contractualism, and the Concept of Private Property: An Institutionalist Interpretation". In: History of Philosophy Quarterly, vol. 26, 2009, p. 353-371.
