Our Understanding of Rights
Introduction There are a number of factors affecting our understanding of human rights. This has been explained by a number of scholars who have conducted studies on the perceptions of people towards rights. In some cases, there has been proof that understanding of human rights is based on the manner in which a person would expect to be treated in real life situation. An example of an author who has conducted extensive research in this area is John Locke in his book ‘Two Treaties of Government’. This paper provides an investigation of the understanding of human rights based on the studies conducted by Locke in the areas of Laws of nature with the examination of property rights, rights to speech and expression, rights to fair trial and rights to coexistence in the society.
Homework help – Discussion In real life situation, it would be expected that people would expect everybody to be treated equally and hence consider rights to be something that results into benefits to all people without discrimination of other groups. This is because, if other groups are favored and another group does not get the benefits of the rights, then there is no equality and thus those who have not been treated fairly will complain that their rights are violated. This illustration is supported by John Locke’s statement that “A state of equality where in all the power and jurisdiction is reciprocal, non one having more than another.
There is no distinction between creatures belonging to a similar species because they have similar needs, goals and aspirations and needs from the environment. Consequently, the process of awarding them with environmental needs, privileges and rights should be done with little subordination or subjection.
The Master of the creatures has the right to formulate policies of restraint towards involvement in certain activities but this should be based on consideration of the needs of all people involved with little bias towards certain groups of people.
Locke has been supportive of this statement by explaining that the needs provided to people should be such that they are able to live normal lives without restrictions (Locke 76). He also explains that since human beings are or the same species, they are subject to similar needs and treatment and laws and regulations should be designed so that the rights of all groups of people are accounted for irrespective of their socioeconomic status.
This result into the deduction that if human rights are focused on mistreatment of people and restraining them from acquiring normal living standards, there is a high possibility of rejection of such rights and people are less likely to obey them.
In a state of nature, it would be expected that people live according to certain rules and when a person willfully violates these rules, then the person in authority has the mandate to subject the offender to punishment.
This is because, it is impossible to live peacefully if some forms of acts are not prohibited while others are legalized. If this is not done, things would not be in order and people cannot live peacefully.
Thus, human rights are considered to be regulations which enhance good behaviors and discourage bad behaviors which contribute to instability in relationships among people in the community. This implies that human rights is what makes people behave in a certain way but punishment is only subjected to those who have violated these standards of living by violating these laws.
However, if the punishment involves harming those who have not committed harm, then it cannot be considered to be a human right. This is supported by Locke’s clam that man usually has power over another man but not absolute power to consider the other man a criminal at his will.
However, the aim of exercising the power is to restraint the subjects from participating in volatile acts and only those who have been proved guilty of transgressing into the rights of others or overusing their rights can be punished.
It is natural life, it is required that those whose rights are violated get fair compensation by restoring them to the condition they would have been if these rights were not violated.
This involves ensuring any goods and services acquired from them illegally are restored so that the person can understand the concern of the authorities for the rights of its citizens. This is based on the fact that in natural life, people expect that their property is safe and if their right to property protection is violated, the rule applied is not aimed at protecting human rights.
This can result into disagreements between the rulers and the subjects. This is supported by Locke’s statement that every man has the right to support his property by ensuring it is not destroyed or stolen by aliens, he also emphasizes that every man has the right to defend his property from being taken away by murdering the person or using other methods of protecting the property.
By investigating Locke’s argument, humans are equal and independent from one another and each individual has equal right to Life, health and possessions. He explained that when human rights do not protect the interests of certain groups of people, there is a high possibility of lack of cooperation between the rulers and the subjects because the subjects will view rulers as people whose interests are to violate their rights and benefit themselves (Locke 79).
This statement shows that in natural life situation,
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This statement shows that in natural life situation,
the focus of human rights should be on protection of their property and those who attempt to design these rights so that they do not cater for the needs of the people should be regarded as human rights violators.
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https://monkessays.com/write-my-essay/unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/protection.pdf 64%
https://monkessays.com/write-my-essay/actionaid.org/sites/files/actionaid/1._peoples_action_in_practice_final_20_07_2012.pdf 68%
the focus of human rights should be on protection of their property and those who attempt to design these rights so that they do not cater for the needs of the people should be regarded as human rights violators.
This is supported by the speculation that when legislators try to take away and destroy property owned by people, subjecting them to slavery under an arbitrary power, they subject themselves into conflicts with the people who will not show any obedience when their rights to property ownership is violated.
However, it would be expected that people who have participated in wrongful acts are held accountable for their actions. This is because, in real life situation, it is required that people do not commit wrongful acts and those who commit these acts are punished by subjecting them to conditions which makes them feel pain or learn the need to avoid participating in wrongful acts. Consequently, this is a special case in human rights where the rights of the person may be violated for the purpose of correcting the behaviors of the person so that he can follow the lifestyle dictated by the Laws of Nature. This is supported by Locke’s statement that a magistrate will decide the form of punishment for a person who has committed an offence with little regard for the rights of the person towards better treatment or being subjected to harsh conditions.
Furthermore, in a state of nature, it would be expected that people are allowed to express themselves freely without restrictions provided they do not cause harm to another person or do not convey messages that cause defamation to another person. Locke also contributed to understanding of the freedom of press by opposing the Act of the Regulation of Printing by stressing the need to avoid monopolizing the printing business at that time. This is because, if people are not allowed to express their ideas and opinions, they cannot relate well with each other and assist one another in overcoming life’s challenges.
In addition, in real life situation, it would be expected that people are allowed to hold their religious views provided they do not harm another person. Thus, a human right is one that ensures the rights of a person to expression and personal religious views are protected.
This statement was supported by the views of Locke when he wrote a letter to the magistrate concerning the need for tolerance. His view was that the religious preachers should be allowed to preach their speculative messages because it did not result into violation of Civil Rights of the subjects.
He observed that the case of Roma Catholics who believe in Bread as the body of Christ should not be considered to be a violation of human rights because it does not result into any injury to the neighbors or other people.
He also emphasized that if a heathen did not believe in the teachings of the testament, he should not be subjected to punishment for his beliefs. Conclusion This paper shows that laws and Acts describing human rights can only be accepted if they contribute to understanding of what life would be in a state of nature.
According to the nature of life, all people need to be treated fairly and equally with no bias in application of laws so that the demands of human rights can be achieved.
In addition, it is observed that in an s ate of nature, people would like to be treated equally when laws are implemented and the laws should not be favorable to other groups of people.
For instance, if a person has committed a crime, it is expected that the person should be subjected to fair judgment irrespective of his socioeconomic status. Another observation from this paper is that Locke emphasized on ensuring laws protected the properties rights of people by emphasizing that if laws were formulated so that the rulers could take away property of the people, it could result into disagreement and disregard for the rulers which would result into perpetuation of conflicts.
It was also observed that in natural life situation, people are allowed to express themselves with little or no restriction and human rights should be designed so that people are allowed to express themselves without restrictions.
Thus, it is concluded that our understanding of human rights is enhanced by our understanding of what life would be like in a state of nature.
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