Human rights are a product of a philosophical debate that has been argued since the beginning of mankind. Fueling this debate is the fact that many people have been unsatisfied with the notion that what is right or good is simply what a particular society or ruling elite feels is right or good at any given time. Great philosophers from the past such as Aristotle, Socrates and Thomas Aquinas focused extensively on their definition of human rights, among other ideas, and lead the way for more contemporary thinkers such as John Locke and Martin Luther King Jr Notions of natural right were introduced by European philosophers such as Aristotle, but is was Aquinas who developed the idea more in-depth. In his Summa Theologica, he stated his belief that there were behaviors that were naturally right or wrong because God ordained it so. Aquinas’!
s theory was that God decided what limits should be placed on the human political activity. Centuries later, Thomas Hobbes offered a different view on the divi

Views such as that of Locke were obviously limiting to the role of government. People in their natural condition have unlimited freedom. No one could be subjected to another’s rule unless they consented. If they choose to be ruled, the surrender either all or at least some of this natural right to their king or government in exchange for civil society and peace. If all rights are surrendered, then people could be subjected to absolute government authority and be under absolute duty to obey. If only some of these rights are surrendered, then the question of which part of these rights are given up arises. A government’s responsibility became the duty to protect natural rights. This limited what it could legitimately do and gave its citizens the right to defy and overthrow a government that overstepped its legitimate authority.

The English Bill of Rights was notable in that it made the King subject to the rule of law, like any citizen, instead of claiming to be the law’s divine source. It required the King to respect the power of Parliament, which was elected by the people. The Bill of Rights protected some basic rights to justice. According to it, excessive bail or fines would not be imposed, nor would cruel and unusual punishments be enforced. Juries, impartial courts and independent judges were guaranteed to ensure fair trials. It even repeated some of the promises made by King John in the Magna Carta.

divine basis of natural right by describing a State of Nature in which God did not seem to play any role. Hobbes also referred to a natural right, rather than simply natural right. There was no longer just a list of behavior that was naturally right or wrong; Hobbes added that there could be some claim which was derived from nature. In Hobbes' view, this natural right was one of self-preservation. Further reinforcement of natural rights came with Immanuel Kant's writings that reacted to Hobbes' work. Kant argued that a state had to be organized through the imposition of, and obedience to, laws that applied universally, an!

A successor to Locke was Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who in his Social Contract refuted attempts to tie religion to the foundations of political order and also separated the rights of a society from natural rights. In Rousseau's view, the rights in a civil society are sanctified as he state