In the pages of an obscure book first published in 1722, there lurks one of the finest essays on property rights ever penned. The book is The Religion of Nature Delineated, by William Wollaston.
Since Wollaston’s property theory is an extension of his ethical theory, it is necessary to survey his theory of ethics and the general tradition to which it belongs. This paper is expository, not critical; its purpose is to introduce the reader to an unjustly neglected philosopher.
