Social Contract Theory Natural Rights and Personhood...

Personhood is a central issue within ethics and natural rights debates. For any theory of ethics or system of declaring natural rights which purports how man should be treated and/or to what rights he is so entitled must begin with what ‘man’ is. There is no doubt man has an inherent value that entities such as flies and trees lack. This value does not come from mere physical form, but from what comprises personhood; because these things can be separated from our physical form they can fail to be developed or instantiated within man’s physical form. Natural rights, and the debate about what they are and where they come from, have been long-standing issues in the philosophical as well as political communities. One thing that does seem clear†¦show more content†¦Both Locke and Rousseau believe that man, within the state of nature, is not a brutal creature void of morality. Hobbes famous quote concerning man’s natural condition, â€Å"and which is wo rst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short, is indicative of his vastly different views regarding the State of Nature. The Law of Nature, which is Locke’s basis for all morality, is bestowed upon humanity by God. This is what keeps the State of Nature from automatically becoming an intolerable warzone. His belief in God greatly influenced his views of human nature, and what constitutes personhood, but his version of the Social Contract Theory had no less influence on our modern secular democracy. The Law of Nature demands that man not harm another man in respect to his, â€Å"life, health, liberty, or possessions.† Locke’s view of human nature grants all men equality under the Law of Nature and the capacity to recognize what it is in him that demands this protection from harm, in others. Nevertheless, the Law of Nature does allow man the defense of his own life. Rousseau has a similar idea regarding the conditions in the state of nature. However, his basis for this idea is not contingent upon a God-given Law of Nature, but upon the capacity for human empathy. According to Rousse au, the state of nature was simple and peaceful. Man was a relatively smallShow MoreRelatedHuman Rights Before And After Islam4363 Words   |  18 Pages Human Rights Before And After Islam Name: Institution: Professor: Introduction and background. Human rights has become one of the most complicated and complex challenge and issue for the twenty first century (Haneef, 2016). The Islamic culture has granted some fundamental human rights for the entire humanity, without discrimination based on any situation or background. The Western Countries claim to have been the founders of human rights after which the rest of the society orRead MoreChina in Africa Essay20116 Words   |  81 PagesFantu Cheru theme: AfricAn Agriculture Agriculture and the World Bank Atakilte Beyene Property rights Kjell Havnevik Tor A. Benjaminsen Espen Sjaastad inequality and climate change contents to our reAders AfricAn Agriculture 1 3 november 2007 Carin Norberg African agriculture and the World Bank: development or impoverishment? Atakilte Beyene 5 8 Property rights formalisation in Africa Tor A. Benjaminsen Espen Sjaastad the relationship between inequality and