Jefferson didn't assume self-evident rights.In his review of Rights from Wrongs (May/June 2005) David Niose attributes to the book's author, Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and criminal law professor known for his extensive published works, career as an attorney in several high-profile law cases, and commentary on the Arab-Israeli conflict. , the claim that "Thomas Jefferson wrote that it is 'self evident' that humans are 'endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable UNALIENABLE. The state of a thing or right which cannot be sold. 2. Things which are not in commerce, as public roads, are in their nature unalienable. rights'." Jefferson didn't believe these were self-evident but merely stated so for purposes of the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident." Jefferson was educated enough to know that the rights the Declaration lists require support. But for purposes of a declaration one can't get bogged down with a philosophical dissertation. John Locke, Ayn Rand Noun 1. Ayn Rand - United States writer (born in Russia) noted for her polemical novels and political conservativism (1905-1982) Rand , Robert Nozick Robert Nozick (November 16, 1938 – January 23, 2002) was an American philosopher and Pellegrino University Professor at Harvard University. Nozick, schooled at Columbia, Oxford and Princeton, was a prominent American political philosopher in the 1970s and 1980s. , and many others-including me, the author of Individuals and Their Rights (Open Court, 1989)--have made a serious attempt to provide basic rights with their philosophical foundations. To pick on the wording of the Declaration is entirely beside the point and can serve little more than to denigrate den·i·grate tr.v. den·i·grat·ed, den·i·grat·ing, den·i·grates 1. To attack the character or reputation of; speak ill of; defame. 2. a crucial idea. Tibor R. Machan, Ph.D. Orange, California |
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