Assess the claim that there are no such things as natural rights.

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‘Assess the claim that there are no such things as natural rights.’The idea that rights are ‘natural’ is contested. For some our rights are natural and therefore ‘pre-society’, however even this can be argued through the different perspectives of where these natural rights come from. For example, from our essentialist core human features, or God. Yet, it can also be seen that rights are not natural at all; they are imposed on us by society where they are created and therefore rights are ‘post-society’. Firstly, there is the argument that our rights as human beings evolve out of the core features that make us what we are. These properties of human beings, for example the capacity to reason or feel emotion, mean that we can all be seen as of equal meaning and therefore should be granted rights so that we can exercise our abilities. Locke argues that in the state of nature we have the right to life, liberty and property and that governments are created in order to protect these rights. These rights evolve out of our human need and capacities and exist in order to help us exercise these and live the most flourishing life. Therefore natural rights can be equated with human rights. As argued by Locke and supported by Kant, there is the argument that rights are natural because we as humans are ‘God’s workmanship’. This means that we ought not to harm one another in any way and therefore we have rights that are set out in order to pursue this. Therefore rights
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are natural because we as humans are natural. Furthermore, it can be argued that even without the religious reference, that humans are valuable in themselves and therefore should be treated as ends and not means. Therefore we should not take advantage of each other to prosper and better ourselves; rights are in place in order to ensure this. Because the features that we possess are natural, so should be the rights that protect these. There is also the fact that the rights that we possess can be universalised. There are rights that we as humans have that can be seen ...

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