Philosophical Question #15 – Human Rights


We often hear about the concept of “human rights.”

We know the definition of “human.”  Let’s get the definition of “rights”:



When it comes to rights, those of us who live in Western cultures tend to think of rights as being certain freedoms, education, health care, safety, etc.  To us, they just seem like “a given”; a “human right.”

To those who do not have access to or experience with Western-style human rights, such rights are more like “aspirational” for them.  Evidently, from a human standpoint, these so-called human rights are “desirable conditions” among all humans, no matter from what little corner of the world they hail.

Now the questions:

  • What makes something, some condition, a “right/entitlement”? (e.g., luck-of-the-draw birthplace, the concept of humanitarianism, it’s God-given, other)

  • Would you agree that there are such things as “universal human rights?” (Yes, No, Yes and No, I don’t know, Other)

  • If Yes, or Yes and No:

    • What are such rights?  List them.  

    • Who decides/dictates such rights? (e.g., the reigning government of a country, the legal system of the country, the greater society by way of democracy, “God”, other)

    • If there is a cost to providing a right (such as health care, education, safety), who monetarily/financially pays for that? (e.g., the individual by way of their taxes, the society by way of a taxing system, the government [where does that money come from], other)

    • Who physically provides for/guarantees such rights? (e.g., the country’s military and/or other policing forces, civil/criminal laws, etc.)

Use my questions, or otherwise talk about “human rights” in whatever way you see them.

(by PrimalSoup)

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