Define: Natural Rights

Natural rights are fundamental rights and freedoms that are inherent to all individuals by virtue of their humanity. These rights are often considered to be universal, inalienable, and independent of government or societal recognition. Natural rights encompass a broad range of liberties and entitlements, including the right to life, liberty, and property, as well as freedoms of speech, religion, and association. They are often seen as foundational principles of justice and morality and serve as the basis for legal and political rights enshrined in constitutions and laws around the world. The concept of natural rights has roots in philosophical traditions such as natural law theory and has played a significant role in shaping modern theories of human rights and political philosophy.

Rights that are assumed to be available to everybody, for no other reason than they are people. Thus natural rights and human rights tend to cohere conceptually speaking (at least in theory). These days we tend to use the term ‘human rights’; however, ‘natural rights’ has a more transcendental feel about it. To have ‘natural rights’ gives the impression that these rights are inalienable, and derive from some higher power than humanity. ‘Human rights’, on the other hand, gives the impression of rights that people have decided to defend on each other’s behalf. Many supporters of Natural law jurisprudence would support the notion of natural rights, although the term itself isn’t widely used any more. Jeremy Bentham described natural rights as ‘nonsense on stilts’. Often to avoid these controversies contemporary scholars speak of “rights discourse”.

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This glossary post was last updated: 29th March 2024.