4 ms·
> But the way I think about it, "rights" are not encoded in the laws of physics. They are social constructs. There's a long history of reasoning (i.e. logic) f
by joubert 6y ago
> But the way I think about it, "rights" are not encoded in the laws of physics. They are social constructs.
There's a long history of reasoning (i.e. logic) from first principles how to best establish communities, for example Rousseau's 1762 work, The Social Contract.
Some key arguments that Rousseau expounds:
* force does not create right; we are only obligated to obey legitimate powers
* everyone is free (because we each give up the same rights and have the same duties imposed, e.g. around property rights)
* absurd for someone to surrender freedom for slavery
There are underlying commonalities between Rousseau's work and intellectual artifacts from other cultures, such as "reciprocity" expressed by Confucius in Analects: "do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you". This concept of reciprocity is also echoed in the Christian doctrine of the golden rule.
> Therefore different societies can come up with a different and even conflicting set of "rights".
Do you not think that there are universal human rights?
For example, those enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/ https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
- wcoenen 6y ago> Do you not think that there are universal human rights? I know attempts have been made to come up with "universal rights". But to my point, not everyone agrees with them. For example, the convention on children's rights has not been ratified by the US. The poster I first responded to, has since clarified that he meant something like US law working as a blacklist of what is forbidden (as opposed to a whitelist of what is allowed). So the discussion about universal rights was a bit of a red herring, sorry.
- boomboomsubban 6y agoI said nothing like that, it has nothing to do with US law, but I also don't think universal rights exist in the way you two are discussing. On a deserted island with no government, you still have the right to free speech without anyone giving it to you.
- joubert 6y ago> deserted island with no government, you still have the right to free speech without anyone giving it to you "Rights" do not really make sense if you're the only human around.
- boomboomsubban 6y agoThey don't serve a purpose, but they still work the same. And if a second person suddenly shows up, you wouldn't suddenly bestow them with rights.