The problem this thesis focuses on is whether or not property rights exist prior to or only after the existence of a state. John Locke claims that we have property rights prior to and independent of the existence of the state. G.W.F. Hegel qualifies this claim by adding that property rights exist in only an incomplete form prior to the state and it is only within the context of a state that property rights can be more complete. I argue that both explanations do not adequately address our intuitions regarding property rights and that I will offer a full more comprehensive account through a composite theory take from Locke, Hegel and John Rawls.