Philosophy Contemporary Moral Problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophy Contemporary Moral Problems - Essay Example In that context a sense of duty gains preponderance over claim over rights in the sense that it raises the issue of propositions related to duties (Tuck 5). Any attempt to elaborate on the meaning of a term like ‘rights’, is dependant to a great extent on the enjoining theories and since times immemorial, varied theories have played a pivotal role in the determination of the meaning and the spirit of the term ‘rights’ (Tuck 8). This raises many questions pertaining to the meaning of ‘rights’, as to whether rights are something whose application and expression could be directly controlled by its possessors, or is it the moral and political duty of the public institutions and laws to make way for a hassle free extension of rights (Tuck 8)? Thus, the natural rights theory pertaining to the basic freedoms and rights which should be accessible to all individuals is not that simplistic and straightforward in its philosophical and political scope. Before delving on a philosophical delineation of the concept of natural rights and the successive developments and the emergence of varied classifications, it will be really pragmatic to delve on the notion of natural rights in a simplistic context. Natural rights are the rights that tend to be universal in their scope and application and that are readily accessible to all the individuals simply by the virtue of their being human. Natural rights include within their ambit a range of rights affiliated to civil, cultural, political, social, and economic rights. The theory of natural rights is quintessentially based on the notion of human dignity and worth. In a historical perspective, the notion of natural rights could be traced back to the tablet of Hammurabi. Though the codifications of Hammurabi tended to protect the individuals from arbitrary persecution and exploitation, they