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life

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animals

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be wary of large snails carrying pointed sticks

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world domination

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remembering my favourite memory

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it's fun

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all sorts

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human doorstop

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17:54:32 on 12/6/57

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wanting to know

Politics, News & Issues > Political & Economic Theory Do people have absolute rights that all governments should protect?

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English political philosopher Jeremy Bentham described the concept of rights as 'nonsense'. He described the liberal theory of natural rights (traditionally life, liberty and property, as defined by John Locke) as 'nonsense on stilts'. He was partly correct in the first instance, and entirely correct in the second. Rights are a socially imposed phenomenon tied very closely to liberalism's emphasis on individual liberty. As such the concept has little meaning in societies that adopt a more community- or nation-centred political tradition. An excellent example of this is China. China is subj...

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