ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds some light on what appear to be the two disputed areas: Hugo Grotius's understanding of how the primitive general right worked in practice and the nature and significance of the agreement that accompanied the introduction of private property. It discusses that the interpretation of Grotius presented here points to a rather different assessment of the relationship between his theory and those of Samuel Pufendorf and Locke than is suggested by Schlatter and Tuck. For Pufendorf, the history of property is from the beginning the history of conventions. Grotius's discussion of private property is usually regarded as the seminal work within the modern natural law tradition and a point of departure for the subsequent history of the subject. Grotius's discussion of private property is usually regarded as the seminal work within the modern natural law tradition and a point of departure for the subsequent history of the subject.
