Locke Versus Calhoun on Natural Rights

The Natural Rightness of Locke

In his "Disquisition on Government," (published in 1853), John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) attempted to justify the institution of slavery by rejecting the Lockean idea of natural rights which had underpinned America's founding documents and principles. Calhoun attacked the idea of natural rights by attacking the Lockean concept of a state of nature -- existing prior to any government -- where every individual enjoyed absolute self-sovereignty before delegating a portion of his rights to government. Calhoun critiqued the state of nature, stating that

"such a state is purely hypothetical. It never did, nor can exist; as it is inconsistent with the preservation and perpetuation of the race. It is, therefore, a great misnomer to call it the state of nature. Instead, of being the natural state of man, it is, of all conceivable states, the most opposed to his nature -- most repugnant to his feelings, and most incompatible with his wants. His natural state is, the social and political -- the one for which his Creator made him, and the only one in which he can preserve and perfect his race. As, then there never was such a state as the, so called, state of nature, and never can be, it follows that men, instead of being born free and equal, are born subject, not only to parental authority, but to the laws and institutions of the country where born, and under whose protection they draw their first breath."

Calhoun's argument is complex and interesting; it implies that the individual is born subject to society and dependent on others for his rights. His rights are not inherent in him qua individual, but rather bestowed upon him by others as judged by some "greater" societal standard. If correct, Calhoun's claim constitutes a refutation of moral and political individualism.

But it is not correct. The fallacies in Calhoun's reasoning are numerous, though they may be hard to detect. I shall analyze them here and vindicate the natural rights theory of John Locke-- as articulated in his Second Treatise of Civil Government(1690) from Calhoun's assault.