The Theory Of Property
While Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines property as "something
regarded as being possessed by, or at the disposal of, a person or group of
persons species or class," (p. 1078) this definition hardly holds the
connotations so emphatically discussed by the anthropologist Morgan. To Morgan,
"property has been so immense...so diversified its uses so expanding...that it
has become...an unmanageable power." (p.561) Why has it become such an
unmanageable power? Morgan answers this question with the simple answer that it
is due to the linear evolution of the social institution of property from being
collectively owned to being individually owned which has planted the seed of its
own ...
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approach states that due to the
"unity of mankind" various technological innovations, which gave rise to the
ever-growing availability of property, allowed social change to occur in many
areas of the globe independently. Every area, went through its own version of
evolution in which the importance of wealth grew at varying rates. This
discovery leads Morgan to believe that while the past was unified in its
variation, it is the future which must presently be addressed. For Morgan, in
studying the past one can learn much about the future. Not only does Morgan
analyze the social emergence of various types of property, but he is also
extremely interested in the human tendencies evident in various societies which
surfaced as a result of the ever-growing list of ownable objects. As time
progressed from the Status of Savagery through Barbarism and into Civilization
new wants and needs arose mostly due to new inventions. It is on this
relationship between property, technology, and ...
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the first of the periods, property basically
took the form of rude weapons, fabrics utensils, apparel, implements of flint,
stone, bone, and other various personal ornaments. Due to the fact, though,
that these objects were relatively uncomplicated and crude, there was not much
"passion for possession." In other words, people did not need to own. Land was
owned by the loosely organized tribes, and the tenant houses were owned by all
the occupants. As intensive agriculture and pastoralism had not yet been
invented the need to own land was not great either. As people died their most
valuable possessions were either buried with the corpse or given to the next of
kin. This process ...
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"The Theory Of Property." Essayworld.com. November 23, 2007. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Theory-Of-Property/74787.
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