John Locke and Lockean Rights

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According to John Locke, human beings remain subject to individual rights, inscribed on them by nature, which established a ground for peaceful coexistence and governs how people relate with one another. These rights act independently of any institution without changing according to an environment or sociological implications. He further argued that humanity is bound by moral values to preserve and protect the life, liberty, and property of fellow human beings. According to him, these set of rules do not arise from a particular institution or superior being but rather from human nature or in other words, they occur and dwell in people’s essence and do not succumb to changes, (Widdows 110).
However, Locke recognizes the threat these rights face in their natural state from people who do not observe the rule of law and who fail to respect fellow human’s rights. Therefore, he reiterates the importance of establishing governments and other social institutions that bind people together with the common goal of protecting their rights. The author’s works influence the modern society and especially in political governments primarily in the United States and in France, (Widdows 111). For instance, the American Declaration of Independence borrows heavily from Locke’s understanding of human rights by recognizing the presence of unalienable rights to life, the pursuit of happiness, and liberty. Similarly, the French Declaration of the Rights of man and the Citizen recognizes the totality of man and the rights that naturally bind him.

According to Locke, the right to life and property cannot exist as two entities, but rather both have equal significance and possess the same authority. Although faced with criticism especially on the focus on the man, which is wrongly misinterpreted to represent the male gender, the works of Locke played a vital role in recognition of human rights and continued to influence the same today.
 
Work Cited
Widdows, Heather. “Global Ethics.” Global Ethics: An Introduction, 2014, pp. 110-120.