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 Ayesha Speaking

Current speaker I have a view that is something like John's, although mine is ultimately based on my theology. I'm thinking of the work of Father John Ryan, the best known Catholic moral theologian in the United States in the first half of the 20th century.

Ryan argues that people have an obligation to develop their personality through the exercise of their capacities. This end is ultimately based on the will of God. Individual natural rights are the moral means required to achieve that end. To achieve that end, God has established those rights.

I want to try to expand his view somewhat. Here's an outline, as I understand it.

  • Human beings have a rational nature.
  • The proper end for a rational being is "right and reasonable life." He or she is obligated to pursue this end because the rational faculty is higher than the sense faculty and because it is the will of God that he/she do so.
  • Right and reasonable life includes the development of one's personality through the exercise of one's capacities.
  • The moral rights of human beings are the moral means to this end. These include the rights to life, liberty, property, livelihood, marriage, religious worship and education.
  • Human beings have these rights because the welfare of the individual is sacred.
  • The "ultimate source" of these natural rights are the reason and will of God, who has decreed that we pursue "self-perfection."

I think that views like those of John and Vlastos are secular versions of Ryan's view. Vlastos says that human beings have intrinsic worth. Ryan says that human welfare is sacred. John wants to see people guaranteed the freedom and resources required to develop their capacities. Ryan wants to see people develop what he calls "personality" through the exercise of their capacities. The big difference is that for John rights ultimately have to be ascribed by people. For me, ultimately, they are granted by God.


I recommend that you look at some of Ryan's work to get an idea of how some Catholic philosophers view human rights. One anthology that is still available is called Economic Justice: Selections from Distributive Justice and A Living Wage. [See especially the chapter called "The Basis and Justification of Rights."]


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