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A while ago I was saying that I thought that certain kinds of proof that people have moral rights are unavailable, but I also said that I think we can offer good reasons for making a moral decision to ascribe moral rights to all people. I think I can tie that in with contractarianism.

It seems to me that if we all believe that it is good to reduce misery, pain, and the loss of valuable work (or that it is good to increase happiness and the creation of valuable work) then we have the basis for an agreement to establish a system of human rights.

Maybe we could go one step further and say that each of us would be guilty of a logical inconsistency if we said that it was good for us to experience less misery and pain and to be denied the opportunity to create what we think is valuable but that it is not good for others to experience less misery, etc. I'm not sure of that. That's something we should consider.

My main point is that we seem to have the basis for an agreement, and that agreement can serve as the basis of a moral code that includes strong moral rights for everyone.