Edmund Burke Declaration Of Rights Essay

The authors of the Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizen wrote with the point of view that rights are absolute and can exist outside of government and society. Influenced by philosophers like John Locke, they held the belief that men had natural rights that could not be taken away. Edmund Burke, on the other hand believed that such natural rights did not exist. Rather Burke believed that rights were societal constructs passed down generation to generation. Burke’s view of inherited rights is superior because the model of absolute natural rights that the authors of the declaration propose is too rigid and not only lacks the flexibility needed to address changing circumstances and problems but also inhibits progress. John Locke and other philosophers had a significant influence on the authors of the Declaration of the Rights of Men and Citizen. As a result, it is reasonable to believe that the declaration’s authors held a point of view similar to Locke. One idea they share is the notion that rights are status-based. Locke believed that because humans were equal they should not hurt each other (Locke, 271). In other words, people deserve certain sacred rights because they are

Under the declaration’s conception of rights, rights are absolute and inflexible. To Burke, this inflexibility was a problem because it did not allow room for potential compromise and changes (Burke 104). The authors of the declaration believed that rights should function as fixed rules that dictate how government should act. But, in reality, it is not possible for these sets of rights to easily determine the correct course of action at all times. Often times the application of rights will need to depend on the situation and circumstance. By declaring rights before hand, the authors of the declaration are limiting the flexibility of rights, such as in the case of extreme