Question

Which of the following most accurately represents the Lockean Proviso?

Group of answer choices
- The Lockean Proviso holds that positive rights actually do exist, provided that the state actively protects all of everyone's negative rights.
- It is okay for anyone to appropriate unowned land, by fencing off and working to make it productive, just as long as there is enough, and as good, left for everyone else. (The bold part is the proviso.)
- The Lockean Proviso is the moral principle, developed by John Locke, that society should provide for the support of people who are unemployed or otherwise unable to support themselves.
- The Lockean Proviso is the argument that Utilitarianism fails as a moral theory because Utilitarians have failed to justify their theory by connecting it to real features of human beings, or of the natural world

Answer 1

The Lockean Proviso asserts that individuals can appropriate unowned land as long as there is enough and as good left for others. It is based on John Locke's philosophy of natural law and individual rights, assuming that appropriation does not worsen others' condition. The correct answer is option: 2) It is okay for anyone to appropriate unowned land, by fencing off and working to make it productive, just as long as there is enough, and as good, left for everyone else. (The bold part is the proviso.)

Step-by-step explanation:

The Lockean Proviso is most accurately represented by the statement: It is okay for anyone to appropriate unowned land, by fencing off and working to make it productive, just as long as there is enough, and as good, left for everyone else.

This principle, associated with the English philosopher John Locke, holds that as long as one person's appropriation of property does not worsen the condition of others by leaving them without sufficient resources, the appropriation is justifiable. Locke's philosophy is deeply intertwined with natural law and the rights to life, liberty, and property.

Locke believed that in the state of nature, people would act reasonably and safeguard their own interests, which includes respecting the natural rights of others and ensuring that acquisition of property does not harm those without property.

By mixing one's own labor with the resources that nature offers, an individual is entitled to ownership of that property, provided that this action adheres to the Lockean Proviso ensuring enough and as good resources remain for others. This concept is a vital aspect of Locke's broader theory on property rights and the establishment of government through a social contract.