EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
Idea of Natural Rights. Comment. (UPSC CSE Mains 2015- Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
- Natural rights are rights conferred on all people by nature or God, which no government or individual can deny or limit. ‘Natural law’ is frequently used to describe how natural rights are conferred on people.
- Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal and inalienable (they cannot be repealed by human laws, though one can forfeit their enforcement through one''s actions, such as by violating someone else''s rights).
- The concept of natural law is related to the concept of natural rights. Natural law first appeared in ancient Greek philosophy and was referred to by Roman philosopher Cicero. The idea of human rights is also closely related to that of natural rights: some acknowledge no difference between the two, regarding them as synonymous, while others choose to keep the terms separate to eliminate association with some features traditionally associated with natural rights.
- Natural rights, in particular, are considered beyond the authority of any government or international body to dismiss. The 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important legal instrument enshrining one conception of natural rights into international soft law. Natural rights were traditionally viewed as exclusively negative rights, whereas human rights also comprise positive rights. Even on a natural rights conception of human rights, the two terms may not be synonymous.
- Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed the Natural Rights idea during the 18th century’s ‘Age of Enlightenment.’
- John Locke was the first significant proponent of natural rights. He famously asserted that everyone has the right to life, liberty, and property. Furthermore, no sovereign has the authority to infringe on another sovereign’s rights. One of the motivating reasons for engaging in the social contract, according to Locke, is to protect individual rights. According to social contract theorists, respecting the law is justified and motivated by a collective agreement among society’s members.
- The natural rights doctrine of John Locke had a huge impact. His philosophy, for example, was influential in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence, which highlighted the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
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