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by prescription. From philosophy, Locke (1704/1978)
discussed ownership by the criteria of most efficient use
and by adding value through labor. Rousseau (1755/1978)
discussed ownership by declaration, by boundary marking, and
by consent. From anthropology, Firth (cited in Beaglehole,
1932) discussed ownership by conquest and by sentimental
association. General social knowledge provided other
criteria, for ‘example, ownership by purchase, by court
decision, by legal decree, and by inheritance. Other
criteria were more derivative, for example, claiming
ownership on the basis of a significant vision is
exemplified in the current Middle East conflict by Israel's
claim to territory ultimately on the basis of a vision that
Moses had experienced in antiquity. From daily life,
ownership might be recognized at a lost and found department
on the basis of detailed knowledge of the item, an
identification name on the item, or a bill of sale for it.
A list of 40 plausible criteria of ownership appears in
Appendix A.
More formal consideration of a criterion can be made
by having subjects make explicit judgements as to the
criterion's reasonableness and force as an argument. This
approach should detect the more formal, explicit criteria of
ownership as might be used in verbal justification and in
legal debate. Another approach to generating information on