Declarations of Rights and Human Rights

Flashcards covering key concepts from lecture notes on Declarations of Rights, Human Rights, Locke's philosophy, Liberal Democracy, and the Declaration of Independence.

Declarations of Rights

Foundational documents that articulate the rights of individuals in a society.

Declaration of Independence

A foundational American document that gave political content to rights and declared the thirteen American colonies independent from Great Britain.

Declaration of the Rights of Man

A foundational French document that gave political content to rights in France.

Self-evident truths

Truths considered obvious or inherent, characterized by naturalness, universality, and equality.

Naturalness (Self-Evident Truth)

A quality of self-evident truths implying that rights are inherent or part of human nature.

Universality (Self-Evident Truth)

A quality of self-evident truths implying that rights apply to all people, everywhere.

Equality (Self-Evident Truth)

A quality of self-evident truths meaning all people are equal in possessing these rights.

Natural Rights

Rights depicted by philosophers like Locke and Rousseau as universal and inherent to human beings, deriving from nature rather than divine decree.

Jean-Paul Rabaut Saint-Etienne

A figure who asserted that natural rights are well-known and that laws should not overrule the rights of humanity.

Interior feeling

An important emotional and intuitive aspect, alongside reason, in defining and understanding rights.

Individual autonomy

The idea that individuals are independent and self-governing, a core concept in the development of rights.

Liberal Democracy

A system of government characterized by individual freedom, institutionalized civil rights, popular sovereignty, limited government, multiparty elections, market capitalism, rule of law, and independent courts.

Popular sovereignty

The principle that the authority of a state is created and sustained by the consent of its people.

Limited government

A political system where the powers of government are restricted, usually by a constitution, to prevent tyranny.

Rule of law

The principle that all people and institutions are subject to and accountable to law that is fairly applied and enforced.

Grotius (1583-1645)

A philosopher who sought to derive rights from nature rather than God, emphasizing individual moral autonomy.

Hobbes (1588-1679)

A philosopher who sought to derive rights from nature rather than God, emphasizing individual moral autonomy.

John Locke

An influential philosopher who made rights 'palatable' and significantly shaped the concept of natural rights and liberty.

Immanuel Kant

A philosopher who made rights 'universalizable,' advocating for moral principles applicable to all rational beings.

State of Nature (Locke)

A pre-political condition where all individuals are naturally in a state of perfect freedom and equality, without subordination or subjection.

Liberty (Locke)

A state of freedom, but not license, governed by the Law of Nature (reason) which obliges individuals not to harm others in life, health, liberty, or possessions.

Law of Nature (Locke)

Reason itself, which governs the state of nature and teaches that all are equal and independent, and no one should harm another in fundamental rights.

Private Property (Locke)

Created when an individual mixes their labor with something from the common, thereby removing it from its natural state and making it their own.

Inconveniences of the state of nature (Locke)

Problems such as individuals being biased judges in their own cases, leading to confusion and disorder, which civil government is meant to remedy.

Social Contract (Locke)

An agreement among individuals to mutually enter into a community and form a body politic, thereby consenting to leave the state of nature and join civil society.

Purpose of Social Contract (Locke)

The preservation of individuals' property (life, liberty, and estate) and the establishment of laws by a legislative body to protect society members.

Right to Revolution (Locke)

The right of the people to alter or abolish a government when it endeavors to take away or destroy their property or subject them to arbitrary power.

Unalienable Rights

Rights endowed by the Creator, including Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, which cannot be legitimately taken away or transferred.

Consent of the governed

The principle that governments derive their just powers from the agreement of the people they rule.

Right of the People to alter or abolish government

The right, stated in the Declaration of Independence, to change or overthrow a government that becomes destructive of the ends for which it was instituted (securing unalienable rights).

Despotism

A system of government where a single entity rules with absolute, often oppressive, power. The Declaration of Independence asserts a duty to overthrow such a government when faced with a 'long train of abuses'.

Tyrant (Declaration of Independence)

A ruler whose character is marked by repeated acts defining a tyrant and is therefore unfit to govern a free people.

Right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness (DOI)

Unalienable rights explicitly declared in the Declaration of Independence as endowed by the Creator.

Right to consent to government (DOI)

A right implying that governmental authority is legitimate only when based on the agreement of the people it governs.

Right to revolution (DOI)

The right and duty of the people to throw off a government that becomes destructive of their fundamental rights and liberties.

Right to private property (DOI context)

A fundamental right, influenced by Locke, pertaining to individual ownership, often linked with protection in a civil society.