NATURAL RIGHTS or THE RIGHT TO HAVE RIGHTS

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We will learn, debate, enjoy and investigate philosophers and diverse themes from the philosophical perspective. Each reunion is structured as a conversation among all attendees about that day s philosopher softly moderated by the organizer. The conversation will kick-off from the very brief suggested reading providing easy access to all attendees both to the philosopher and the conversation.

Let´s be greek and dive today on…

Natural Rights... or in other words... the Right to have Rights...

a millennial philosophical debate which is so critical to human life yet so intellectually complex, that some of the brightest names of the philosophical tradition gave it their bite... and yet a quick look at any newspaper express to which degree the conversation is polemic, relevant, pending resolution and in need to be talked again and again, as many times as necessary... that is our right... and we will claim it this Sunday.

Natural rights as those rights that every person possesses simply by being human are Universal, Equal and Inalienable. They do not depend on nationality, social status, religion, gender, wealth...

But the simple claim conceals a profound philosophical question:
Where do these rights come from?
WHY rights... at all ?

Independently of which specifically are those rights, how much are they binding or how would they be enforced... are there Natural Human RIghts at all ?

And the historical answers given to that very fundamental question are extremely relevant, of course: how Stoïcism, John Locke, Kant or Hannah Arendt answered undoubtedly shapes our world and our views... but they do not ANSWER FOR US.

And given the compelling relevance of the matter, today s debate (the Epocal today and this Sunday´s today) should question it from today´s perspective... knowing what we know and being who we are... for many reasons.. one of them because the question seems largely unresolved.

There is an inherent value in atempting to aswer by ourselves.
It unveils the state of affairs in a crucial aspect where inaction is due to many reasons but also because the grounding is insufficient.

And we can agree that all those promoting natural rights do not have to agree on why natural rights exist... but we can also conclude that whenever an action is taken by anyone, anywhere, subtle or shouted, today or in 19 years, in a house kitchen or in a battlefield, the individual standing in the name of natural rights does it from her own belief, a very concrete one, of why natural rights exists and matter.
To her or him.
That is all that matters. That she or he has one.
Thats what we want to know. Which are those.

Luckily, here there is more than one valid answer
And thats great.
Lets hear them.

Nevertheless.. what really means to say that there are natural rights if those are not enforced remains largely an important debate in times where those realities co-exist: we largely agree on natural rights and those rights are meaningfully unanswered in those scenarios where they are, in practice, questioned.

So, lets ask the whole thread from today, from who we are and where and when we are. Are there natural rights at all ? How binding are they ?
Should this reasoning have a strong weight in our actions ?

Let´s think about the Right to have Rights...

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