Natural rights
From Free net encyclopedia
Natural rights are universal rights derived from natural law. John Locke, for example, argued that these rights are integrated with the very definition of what it means to be human. Many philosophers and statesmen have designed lists of what they believe to be natural rights; almost all include the right to life and liberty, as these are considered to be the two highest priorities. R. M. Hare has argued that if there are any rights at all, there must be the right to liberty, for all the others would depend upon this.
Critics have argued that natural rights do not exist (in the sense that all rights are invented by human beings and are therefore by definition "artificial"). The attempt to derive rights from "natural law" or "human nature" is an example of the is-ought problem in philosophy, and, as noted above, different philosophers have created different lists of rights they consider to be natural. Critics have pointed to this lack of agreement as evidence for the claim that the idea of natural rights is merely a political tool. For instance, Jonathan Wallace has asserted that proclaiming some rights as "natural" is another way of saying "Stop asking questions" and "I have won this argument."
See also
Sources
- Hart, H. L. A. "Are there any natural rights?" (Philosophical Review 64, 1955)
- Strauss, Leo. Natural Right And History, University of Chicago Press, 1965
- Wallace, Jonathan "Natural Rights Don't Exist"