This talk will explore two competing moral and political discourses of land value - concerning both the value of owning it and the values that should be possessed by those who own it - in the Enlightenment era: civic humanism and political liberalism. It will explore how these two alternative discourses are brought together in both (1) British Enlightenment rationalist moral theology and (2) some contemporary political discussions of the value of, and values in, land use and ownership. Consequently, it will be argued that the first is in a position to contribute to the second.
