Month: May 2025

Politicians and philosophers sometimes talk about a human right, a right we humans have merely due to our existence. But what makes that so?

The U.S. Constitution details a few of these rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. At other times, individual rights like housing, health care, fresh air and clean water, and others have been mentioned.

The idea is that these are inalienable rights, that is, rights that confer on us as soon as we are born. They do not have to do with our status, our job, our family, or any other external factor. We have them because all people have them, regardless of race, gender, class, country of origin, or any other factor.

Of course, this is an ideal, or an aspiration. As a society, we believe individuals should have these things. But of course, there have been many times in many places throughout history where human beings have not had these rights.

Including the in the United States. Despite what the U.S. Constitution says, historically rights were not given evenly to people based on race and gender. That has evolved and changed over time. But today there are efforts underway to remove some of these rights for some accused of criminal behavior, or others who have questionable immigration status.

Fundamentally, it begs the question: what makes something a human right? Why did life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness make the cut, and others didn’t? Is health care a human right? How do we decide? And if we can have differing opinions, and if we, as a society can change our mind about it, is it a right that we are born with?

Related questions: Is health care a human right? Does nature have rights? Do animals have rights? Personal rights or public safety?