Roots of Property Law: From the Moral Contract - and the Doctrine of Economic Justice - to the Social Contract: Is the Legal Contract Next?

Abstract

Property law is rooted in many institutions. The assumption of this paper is that the rules of property laws are determined by deep cultural structures. The thesis is that in ancient times property laws were determined by the moral contract and that contemporary property laws are determined by the social contract. The paper proposes that in the future property laws be determined by the legal contract. The distinguishing features of the three contracts are these: In the moral contract the rules of property laws are determined by stewardship over land, labor, and money; in the social contract they are determined by privilege; and in the legal contract they are determined by economic rights, which stem from economic responsibilities.