POLS-Y 105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Justification For The State, Social Contract, Body Politic
Document Summary
Natural rights rights when there is no govt. People thought he was writing an apology for the revolution. Law of persons: identify legal statuses (17 different), each legal status awarded different rights, duties, abilities, disabilities. Political power: make laws for: (common good: regulating property, do things one can"t do themselves. Without govt. all we have is ability to use our reason, there is natural law to govern us. Free to do whatever you want within the bounds of nature. State of equality, no man having more power than another. Use reason to infer that we have rights: each person is one of god"s creatures. God creates each person for gods own purposes. We have a duty of self-preservation because we were created by god. You do not have authority to kill yourself, because you must preserve yourself: because each person is created by god and we are moral equals, every person is created by.
