The paper analyses the transformation of Paine understanding of political rights. Affording to Paine, every man, from birth, is endowed with given fundamental rights. However, natural rights are not all the same. Some of them are ‘perfect’ – meaning that each individual can enjoy them without the assistance of others – yet some are ‘imperfect’ – and therefore need to be guaranteed by the political pact. This theme emerges in the works written in the first years of the American Revolution, and it is later developed than a decade later in Europe, attaining it definitive form in Paine’s most famous pamphlet: The Rights of man.
Thomas Paine and the Two Kinds of Natural Rights: a Biographical Approach / Griffo, Maurizio. - (2013). (Intervento presentato al convegno Citizen of the World: the Use and Abuse of Thomas Paine tenutosi a Manchester nel 29-30 novembre 2013).
Thomas Paine and the Two Kinds of Natural Rights: a Biographical Approach
GRIFFO, MAURIZIO
2013
Abstract
The paper analyses the transformation of Paine understanding of political rights. Affording to Paine, every man, from birth, is endowed with given fundamental rights. However, natural rights are not all the same. Some of them are ‘perfect’ – meaning that each individual can enjoy them without the assistance of others – yet some are ‘imperfect’ – and therefore need to be guaranteed by the political pact. This theme emerges in the works written in the first years of the American Revolution, and it is later developed than a decade later in Europe, attaining it definitive form in Paine’s most famous pamphlet: The Rights of man.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
