GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

POLITICS
I. Social Contract Theories of Natural Rights
The common characteristic of those theories of Natural
Rights which are linked with Social Contract theories of
the origin of society is their attribution of rights to man
in a state of nature. These rights, which man is supposed
to have possessed in a state of nature, are his Natural
Rights. Because they belong to man in a state of nature,
they are regarded as being independent of society. They
are, however, also presuppositions of society, since it is
by reflecting upon their rights and considering how they
may best be preserved that, it was thought, men were
led to form society. "This law," says Locke, speaking
of one of the laws of nature by which our rights are bestowed
upon us, "is a general rule found out by reason."
Hobbcs refers to the rights possessed by man in a state of
nature sometimes as "laws of nature", sometimes as
"rules of nature". It is by following these rules that, he
holds, men are induced to form society. Man, he asserts,
has a natural right to enforce his will upon others. But he
also has a natural desire "to seek peace and to follow
it". In order that the desire for peace may be satisfied,
the right to enforce one's will upon others is given upmen,
we are told, relinquish their "rights" to all things
"which being retained hinder the peace of mankind",
and agree to "keep their covenants made". Throughout
these alleged historical transactions, the guiding principle
is, it will be remembered in Hobbes's view, not one of
morality, but of expediency.
Locke agrees with Hobbcs that men possess rights in a state
of nature, and that society is formed in order to guarantee
their fulfilment. He does not, however, agree with Hobbcs
that these rights are lost when a man enters society. With the
exception only ofthe right to be judge in one's own cause, our
Natural Rights continue to be our rights, and it is society's
business to see that they are preserved. These Natural
Rights, whose preservation is the business of society, are,
Locke tells us, rights to "life, health, liberty or possessions".