[p. 237]
§ 11
Possession becomes property or rightful insofar as it is recognised by all others that the thing which I have made my own is mine, just as I likewise recognise the possession of the others as theirs. My possession is recognised because it is an act of the free will, which is something absolute in itself and in which lies the universal, that I regard the willing of others likewise as something absolute.
Explanation. Possession and property are two different determinations. It is not necessary that possession and property always be united. It is possible that I have a property without being in possession of it. If, for example, I lend something to another, it always remains my property, although I do not possess it. Possession and property are contained in the concept that I have a dominium over something. Property is the rightful side of dominium, and possession is only the external side, that something is in general in my power. The rightful is the side of my absolute free will, which has declared something to be its own. This will must be recognised by others, because it is in and for itself and insofar as the previously stated conditions have been observed. – Property thus has an internal and an external side. The latter, for itself, is the taking of possession, the former the act of will, which as such must be recognised. It seems contingent or arbitrary whether the recognition of others is added to a taking of possession. But it must be added, because it lies in the nature of the matter. Recognising does not have reciprocity as its ground. I do not recognise it because you recognise it and vice versa, but the ground of this reciprocal recognising is the nature of the matter itself. I recognise the will of the other because it is to be recognised in and for itself.
§ 12
I can alienate my property, and it can pass to others through my free will.
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