From Natural Law to Human Rights

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer declares that early proponents of natural law argued that people have common sense and are born with an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong. This paper discusses that human rights are those rights that are based on human nature. The writer examines how human rights grew from natural rights. It argues that conceptions of right and wrong are not based on an unchanging, eternal order, but are negotiable; that is, open to revision as the years go by and times change. It is seen, for example, how women and children have used natural rights arguments to gain rights that formerly were denied them.
The writer concludes that human rights have evolved from natural law and natural rights and that human rights are intimately connected to morality and ethics.

Outline:
Introduction
Natural Law and the Concept of Rights
Changing the Law in Response to a New Moral Awareness
Human Rights for Women
Juvenile Death Penalty
Rights versus Utilitarianism
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"More than anyone else the philosopher John Locke influenced the shape and form of democracy in the United States. He argued that human beings have certain fundamental rights, which governments cannot take away. He argued that no individual has a natural right to rule over others, and that a person's natural state is a state of freedom. Freedom, he explained, was not the same as license or permission to do whatever one wants; rather, freedom is based on the "law of reason which places precise limits on our behavior". Not everyone is able to enjoy their natural rights because other people and the government sometimes violate them; therefore, Locke suggested that men assemble and choose leaders who can be trusted to protect their natural rights. The primary function of government ought to be to protect the natural rights of its citizens, to protect citizens from other states, and to establish and maintain internal order. He suggested that oppressive governments (governments that had broken trust with the people) could, and should, be overthrown; in other words, sometimes, revolution is justified--especially if the government violates the natural rights of its citizens. In questions where natural rights are not the issue, then the will of the majority should prevail. His ideas profoundly inspired the Founding Fathers and the Declaration of Independence; moreover, the Constitution was written mainly to protect the people's rights from government interference, to insure internal order, and to establish defense."

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