What are 'natural rights' and are they in any way applicable
People in the western societies today are used to the idea of having rights and relying on them in their everyday life. Most of them would be aware of their rights and obligations. However, the picture would be very different in some eastern, African and Latin American societies. Still today there are governments who do not protect any rights of their citizens and allow or even initiate human rights abuse.However, thinking about why is there such a difference in the development of human rights between western societies and the rest of the world we could suggest that the reason for difference is economical or historical. However, maybe even more importantly is that the idea of natural rights has first emerged in Europe and then developed under the social pressure into the concept of the contemporary human rights.In my essay I am going to explain the whole concept of the 'natural rights', the creation and development of that concept. I will also present some critique of that concept. Then I will look at the possibilities of the idea of 'natural rights' being the bases for the contemporary concept of human rights.The idea of natural law dates back to the ancient Greeks. However, today we are most likely to remember Hobbes and
When people who are equally powerful desire one thing they automatically become enemies and there is nothing to stop them from fighting with the knowledge that they each have equal chances of gain. a state of perfect freedom to order their actions and dispose of their possessions and persons as they see fit, within the bounds of the laws of nature, without asking leave or depending upon the will of any other man. In Chapter 2, "Of the state of nature", Locke describes the "state of nature" in which men exist before forming governments: . Locke claimed In the state of nature, "all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal" and therefore all men "should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection. Now let us have a closer look at the Locke's theory. Whatever their conception of natural equality and its implications on human behavior, both Locke and Hobbes believe that all humans have the natural rights to carry out all acts that preserve their life, and the natural liberty to exercise those rights without any restrictions. According to Hobbes natural rights mean the rights that a human being has in the state of nature: those rights are the right to self preservation by all means. From this law, Hobbes derives the second law of nature, that as far as there is promise for peace then a person must cast away his "right to all things an be contented with so much liberty against other men as he would allow other men against himself. In Hobbes' conception of natural rights, he even takes it a little farther in saying that anything that a person may define as an act of preservation of life and/or simply well being is also a right. However, everyone has some hope of obtaining their desires which prompts Hobbes to believe that human beings are equal to one another. On the other hand, Locke believes that humans are for the most part rational enough to recognize that they are all equal in human nature, and therefore, no one should violate another's rights. Locke is basing his argument on his main claim: Ownership of oneself. Thomas Hobbes explains from the beginning of the "Leviathan" that human nature is "matter in motion" and can be explained entirely scientifically.
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Acceptance Essays
