John Locke and the Origins of Private Property began as a chapter in an unfinished book that was to be entitled Encounters with Liberalism. Like the other chapters of that book which I actually wrote, this study of the labor theory of ownership has swelled far beyond its originally foreseen dimensions. Not only does this volume subject the labor theory to minute examination, but it also tackles a number of variously connected issues; and, after sustainedly perusing Locke's theory and a host of surrounding problems, this book presents a large medley of citations that go some way toward revealing the enormousness of the literature on Locke and his labor theory.

Chapter 1 describes the basic approaches and objectives of the analyses in this book. Some further comments are appropriate here. An initial point should be obvious to any careful reader but should now be affirmed expressly: this book does not engage in either an acclamation or a denunciation of the substance of Locke's political views. Though a central aim of this study is to show that the apparent individualism of Locke's labor theory of property is rooted in a thoroughgoing communitarianism, my arguments that arrive at such a verdict will make no effort to applaud or condemn their findings. Censorious remarks that occur herein are strictly analytical – targeted against the invalidness of Locke's reasoning, and not against the putative balefulness of his outlook.