The Philosophy of Law: Private Right, § 1: The Meaning of ‘Mine’ in Right
‘ANYTHING is’ Mine ‘by Right, or is rightfully Mine, when I am so connected with it, that if any other Person should make use of it without my consent, he would do me ;i lesion or injury. The subjective condition of the use of anything, is Possession of it,
An external thing, however, as such could only be mine, if I may assume it to be possible that I can be wronged by the use which another might make of it when it is not actually in tny possession. Hence it would be a contradiction to have anything External as one’s own, were not the conception of Possession capable of two different meanings, as sensible Possession that is perceivable by the senses, and ‘rational Possession that is perceivable only by the Intellect., By the former is to be understood a physical Possession, and by the latter, a purely juridical Possession of the same objectv
The description of an Object as ‘external to me’ may signify either that it is merely ‘different and distinct from me as a Subject,’ or that it is also ‘a thing placed outside of me, and to be found elsewhere in space or time.’ Taken in the first sense, the term Possession signifies ‘rational Possession;’ and, in the second sense, it must mean ‘Empirical Possession.’ A rational or intelligible Possession, if such be possible, is Possession viewed apart from physical holding or detention (detentio).