HUMAN RIGHTS DIGNITY AND

COMMON GOOD
 GENERAL NATURE AND DEFINITION
OF HUMAN RIGHTS
• Those rights, which are inherent in our nature,
and without which, we cannot live as human
beings.
• Allow us to develop and use our human
qualities, intelligence, talents and conscience,
and to satisfy our spiritual and other needs.
• Supreme, inherent, and inalienable rights to
life, dignity, and self-development.
• The essence of these rights makes man
human.
Basic Characteristics of Human Rights:
• 1. Inherent
• Not granted by any person or authority
• 2. Fundamental
• Without them, the life and dignity of man will be
meaningless
• 3. Inalienable
• Cannot be rightfully taken away from a free
individual
• Cannot be given away or be forfeited
• 4. Imprescriptible
• Cannot be lost even if man fails to use or assert
them, even by a long passage of time
Basic Characteristics of Human Rights:
• 5. Indivisible
• Not capable of being divided
• Cannot be denied even when other rights
have already been enjoyed
• 6. Universal
• Applies irrespective of one’s origin, status, or
condition or place where one lives
• Rights can be enforced without national
border
• 7. Interdependent
• The fulfillment or exercise of one cannot be
had without the realization of the other
 Classification of Rights:
• According to Source
• According to Recipient
• According to Aspect of Life
• According to Struggle for Recognition
• According to Derogability
 ACCORDING TO SOURCE
• Natural Rights
– God-given rights, acknowledged by
everybody to be morally good
– Unwritten, but prevail as norms of the
society
• Constitutional Rights
– Conferred and protected by the
Constitution and which cannot be modified
or taken away by the law-making body
 ACCORDING TO SOURCE
• Statutory Rights
–Those rights which are provided by law
promulgated by the law-making body
–May be abolished by the body that
created them
 According to Aspect of Life
• Civil Rights
– Rights which the law will enforce at the
instance of private individuals for the
purpose of securing to them the enjoyment
of their means of happiness
– Partake of the nature of political rights
when they are utilized as a means to
participate in the government
 According to Aspect of Life
• Political Rights
–Rights which enable us to participate in
running the affairs of the government
either directly or indirectly
• Economic and Social Rights
–Those which the law confers upon the
people to enable them to achieve
social and economic development
 According to Aspect of Life
• Cultural Rights
–Rights that ensure the well-being of
the individual and foster the
preservation, enrichment, and dynamic
evolution of national culture based on
the principle of unity in diversity in a
climate of free artistic and intellectual
expression.
 Human Rights Principles:
• The dignity of man and human life is
inviolable. From the dignity of man is
derived the right of every person to free
development of his personality.

• A legitimate state should exist to assure

that in the discharge of the
governmental functions, the dignity that
is the birthright of every human being is
duly safeguarded.