The rest, though, are germane to the argument only if one holds the existence of God--or any deity, really--to be established fact.
We can see there is freedom--a state in which an individual can choose any course of action as he might wish, and face the outcomes thereof. We can see that freedom is the natural state of all living things. We can see that, unrestricted, freedom leads to anarchy, which affords no protection from brutal existence. We can see that, willingly restricted by most members of a group, somewhat limited freedoms give rise to a society that affords much better protection to all of its members from brutal existence (the social contract). This, surely, serves as an adequate foundation from which to begin an exploration of rights--no appeal to the Divine need be made, nor need be justified, to thus define and defend rights. |
