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Are there human
rights?
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Do they apply
to all people, or are they limited/granted by individual culture?
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If a society
enslaved a portion of its population, and if you were in that group, could you claim
that your human rights had been violated?
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Morality is
based on human nature
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To know what
morality requires, we need only examine our own nature
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Locke, for
example, argued that since all people were equally human, they should be
treated equally
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What is
“Natural Law”?
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Not a law of
nature (e.g. gravity)
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Laws of nature
are descriptive, that is they describe how the world appears to operate
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If we find
something that doesn’t fit the laws of nature as we have conceived them, we
change our description of the laws of nature to accommodate the new information
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Natural Law, in
the moral sense, is prescriptive, that is it tells us how we ought to
act
¨
In this sense,
it is similar to civil law, but is viewed as a higher law, universal and stable
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Natural law is
based on the nature and aim of human beings
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Human nature
and the human good can be determined by examining who and what we are
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Aquinas
interpreted Aristotle’s views in the 13th century
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We should act
to preserve our humanity, do what preserves our selves and our senses
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We should not
do what is injurious to ourselves or to our senses
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We should be
able to choose freely, and allow others to do the same
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Natural law theory
is based on deciphering the moral law written into nature
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But there have
been many different interpretations of what that moral law is
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Slavery has
been argued for and against on natural law grounds
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The rule of
despots has also been both supported and attacked (Hobbes and Locke)
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Can the way
things are provide the basis for how they ought to be?
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Certain things
are essential for us to function as people
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The Declaration
of Independence provides us an example
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“Life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness”
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Various
international conventions seem to recognize such rights:
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The UN
Declaration of Human Rights
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The various
Geneva Conventions pertaining to the conduct of war
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Both claim
certain rights for people as a function of their being human, regardless of
country, race, or religion
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Not everyone
agrees what are essential human rights
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Some rights
might be granted by individual societies, but which ones should all societies
grant?
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Natural rights
theory needs to show that human nature is itself worthy of being furthered