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I'm perfectly willing to talk about a hypothetical social contract as the basis of property rights. A little while ago I introduced Aaron Lomasky's libertarian argument for individual rights. He believes that strong individual rights would be agreed to by rational individuals looking mainly after their own interests.

Lomasky extends his argument to justify strong property rights. Here's a quote:

Property rights demarcate moral space within which what one has is marked off as immune from predation. Access to and command over goods that can confidently be expected to be available throughout the course of one's efforts is required for successful project pursuit. Security in one's possessions --what one has-- is of value to everyone, and, therefore, each individual has some reason to extend deference to others with respect to their holdings conditional upon the receipt of like deference. The creation of social institutions that recognize and define principles of noninterference with persons' holdings transform having into rightful possession. (Lomasky, p. 121)