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Single Idea 21071

[filed under theme 24. Political Theory / A. Basis of a State / 3. Natural Values / c. Natural rights ]

Full Idea

If there is nothing which commands immediate respect through reason, such as the basic rights of man, no influence can prevail upon man's arbitrary will and restrain his freedom.

Gist of Idea

There can be no restraints on freedom if reason does not reveal some basic rights

Source

Immanuel Kant (True in Theory, but not in Practice [1792], 2-Concl)

Book Ref

Kant,Immanuel: 'Political Writings', ed/tr. Reiss,Hans [CUP 1996], p.86

A Reaction

I think this is the nearest Kant gets to natural rights. It is hard to see how basic rights can be identified by pure reason, without some inbuilt human values. Kant's usual move is to say denial of them leads to a contradiction, but I'm going off that.

The 22 ideas with the same theme [rights that seem to belong to any living creature]:

7402 Everyone has a right of self-preservation, and harming others is usually unjustifiable [Grotius, by Tuck]
7412 Spinoza extended Hobbes's natural rights to cover all possible desires and actions [Spinoza, by Tuck]
19914 In nature everything has an absolute right to do anything it is capable of doing [Spinoza]
19915 Natural rights are determined by desire and power, not by reason [Spinoza]
19866 The rational law of nature says we are all equal and independent, and should show mutual respect [Locke]
19872 The animals and fruits of the earth belong to mankind [Locke]
19907 There is a natural right to inheritance within a family [Locke]
3732 Rational beings have a right to share in the end of an action, not just be part of the means [Kant]
21082 A power-based state of nature may not be unjust, but there is no justice without competent judges [Kant]
21071 There can be no restraints on freedom if reason does not reveal some basic rights [Kant]
20977 Natural rights are nonsense, and unspecified natural rights is nonsense on stilts [Bentham]
21785 We are only free, with rights, if we claim our freedom, and there are no natural rights [Hegel, by Houlgate]
22790 We cannot assert rights which are unnatural [Hegel]
3773 No individual has the right to receive our benevolence [Mill]
3774 Rights are a matter of justice, not of benevolence [Mill]
14822 If self-defence is moral, then so are most expressions of 'immoral' egoism [Nietzsche]
23836 Obligations only bind individuals, not collectives [Weil]
21940 Nature is not the basis of rights, but the willingness to risk death in asserting them [Foucault]
8050 There are no natural or human rights, and belief in them is nonsense [MacIntyre]
7595 The idea of a right seems fairly basic; justice may be the disposition to accord rights to people [Scruton]
5660 Allegiance is prior to the recognition of individual rights [Scruton]
23262 Experience, sympathy and history are sensible grounds for laying claim to rights [Grayling]