# Section III: Of the Rules Which Determine Property explained — A Treatise of Human Nature > Chapter companion for A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume. ## What happens Hume examines the rules that determine property, arguing that the general rule of stability of possession must be supplemented by specific rules to assign particular goods to particular persons. He identifies four main rules: occupation (first possession), prescription (long possession), accession (connected inferior objects), and succession (inheritance). These rules are not based on utility or fitness but on the imagination and custom, reflecting the artificial nature of justice and property. ## Themes in this chapter ### Artificial Virtues and Justice Property is an artificial virtue, derived from conventions and rules of justice, not from natural instincts. ### Custom and General Rules Custom and general rules determine property, as seen in the rules of occupation, prescription, and succession. ### Association of Ideas The imagination and association of ideas play a key role in connecting objects to persons, as in accession and succession. ## Character check-ins ### David Hume Author and narrator, analyzing the rules of property and justice. ## Key lines > The possession of all external goods is changeable and uncertain; which is one of the most considerable impediments to the establishment of society, and is the reason why, by universal agreement, express or tacit, men restrain themselves by what we now call the rules of justice and equity. Because external goods are unstable, people agree to restrain themselves through rules of justice to enable society. _Highlights the artificial nature of justice and property._ > A wild boar, that falls into our snares, is deemed to be in our possession, if it be impossible for him to escape. But what do we mean by impossible? How do we separate this impossibility from an improbability? The boundary between possession and non-possession is often vague, as with a wild boar in a snare. _Illustrates the difficulty in defining possession precisely._ > Possession during a long tract of time conveys a title to any object. But as it is certain, that, however everything be produced in time, there is nothing real that is produced by time; it follows, that property being produced by time, is not anything real in the objects, but is the offspring of the sentiments, on which alone time is found to have any influence. Long possession (prescription) gives title, but since time itself produces nothing real, property is a product of sentiment, not reality. _Emphasizes the sentimental basis of property._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_treatise_of_human_nature_se/chapters/section-iii-of-the-rules-which-determine-property - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_treatise_of_human_nature_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_treatise_of_human_nature_se/chapters