Notion of Human Rights
Human rights are a product of a philosophical debate that has been argued since the beginning of mankind. Fueling this debate is the fact that many people have been unsatisfied with the notion that what is right or good is simply what a particular society or ruling elite feels is right or good at any given time. Great philosophers from the past such as Aristotle, Socrates and Thomas Aquinas focused extensively on their definition of human rights, among other ideas, and lead the way for more contemporary thinkers such as John Locke and Martin Luther King Jr. Notions of natural right were introduced by European philosophers such as Aristotle, but is was Aquinas who developed the idea more in-depth. In his Summa Theologica, he stated his belief that there were behaviors that were naturally right or wrong because God ordained it so. Aquinas's theory was that God decided what limits should be placed on the human political activity. Centuries later, Thomas Hobbes offered a different view on the divi
The English Bill of Rights was notable in that it made the King subject to the rule of law, like any citizen, instead of claiming to be the law's divine source. It required the King to respect the power of Parliament, which was elected by the people. The Bill of Rights protected some basic rights to justice. According to it, excessive bail or fines would not be imposed, nor would cruel and unusual punishments be enforced. Juries, impartial courts and independent judges were guaranteed to ensure fair trials. It even repeated some of the promises made by King John in the Magna Carta. The English Bill of Rights, established in 1689, was certainly not the first political doctrine dealing with the rights of humans. The Code of Hammurabi is a prominent early example from which many of the ideas of natural right were absent. It encouraged revenge and promoted eye-for-an-eye, tooth-for-a-tooth principles, rather than encouraging rights influenced by the ideas of divine authority. The Magna Carta had been issued centuries prior to the English Bill of Rights, but differed in that it focused more on the privileges of the aristocracy, rather than the population as a whole. Clearly the notion of a divine authority has played a profound role in development of human rights. The great religions of the world, Judaism, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and others, have all sought to establish comprehensive, coherent moral codes of conduct based on divine law. All contain profound ideas of the human being, and are concerned with the duties and obligations of man to his fellow human beings, to nature and to God and all of creation. The seed for universal human rights was planted in Europe by ancient philosophers, and has grown into a plant whose vines now span the globe. Respect for human rights is becoming a universal principle of good government. The divine basis of natural right was still pursued for more than a century after Hobbes published his ideas in the Leviathan. John Locke defended natural rights with the publication of his Two Treatises on Government, but his arguments made reference to what God had ordained or given to mankind. He argued that it was part of God's natural law that no one should harm anybody else in their life, health, liberty or possessions. These rights could never be given up. The existence of this natural law also established the right to do whatever was necessary to protect such rights. Despite the universali
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Approximate Word count = 1672
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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