How can a right be both eternal and natural, and yet have been formerly unknown to
human beings, and unowned by human beings?

Every right we enjoy today is constituted both by social convention and by social consent. 
Every right we are said to possess is contingent upon tradition, custom, and consensus.





A privilege is a right enjoyed by some; a right is a liberty enjoyed by all.





What does it mean to say that some act is an inherently evil act?  A violation of someone's
rights is an immoral action, or an illegal action; but, is a violation of someone's rights an
inherently evil act?  Is murder an inherently evil act?  Murder happens; and often, murder
happens as if it were a moral and/or legal act.  Is every act of one person killing another
person an act of murder?  Is every act of one group killing another group an act of murder?
If the institutional church killed heretics, dissenters, pagans, and atheists, then was this
murder?  If the political state orders military personnel to kill other human beings, then
is the act of obeying orders to kill also an act of murder?  Is killing inherently evil?  Is any
act that we call evil, evil inherently, or evil putatively?  Is what we call evil, naturally evil, or
nominally evil? 

Can it be said that, the violation of someone's rights is an immoral act, if, and only if, the
violation violates some moral code?  Can it be said that, the violation of someone's rights
is an illegal act, if, and only if, the violation violates some legal code?





"Merit, God knows, is very little rewarded."
-- Charles Lamb