Rights in Political Philosophy 1. Natural rights We have these by virtue of being human Perhaps we have them in virtue of existence of our soul Do we have rights just because we are human? There are two problems with that claim. l. Showing that we have any rights 2. Finding specific rights II. Rights by virtue of some contract Contracts have validity because it would be unfair not to keep agreements These are rights by convention. Such rights are human creations. They exist only by virtue of the contract we make A contract is rational It is entered into freely about someone who makes a rational choice You have an obligation to keep the promises upon which such contracts are built Here we return to Locke In state of nature, what social contract would it be rational to accept? Either rights natural or by contract no 3rd possibility