Thinking with john locke about the nature of human rights: Vietnamese and global perspectives

Abstract

Our paper explores important topics related to John Locke’s thoughts on human rights and their viability for our contemporary discourse on the subject. We begin by exploring Locke’s education and epistemological reflections as factors that influenced his political philosophy. Next, we examine Locke’s views on the ‘state of nature,’ ‘law of nature,’ and ‘natural rights’ and show how his ideas have recently been appropriated (or contested) by Vietnamese and Western scholars. In the final section, we offer a critical assessment of the viability for the contemporary discourse of Locke’s metaphysical presuppositions from which he derives his notions of ‘natural rights.