Rights Of Individual Vs Those Of Society

1357 Words6 Pages
In 1623, when the famous poet John Donne wrote, “No man is an island, entire of itself,” (Heywood 108), he portrayed the idea that people were not merely placed on Earth alone but in fact were part of something much bigger than themselves. This belief has been held by people for centuries, even before Donne’s time. Some of the earliest civilizations took root in Mesopotamia in the Middle East, in the Indus Valley region of Pakistan and on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea, where solidarity and members working collectively with similar ambitions was abound. But then as time went by and the human mind evolved, so did its values and by the 19th Century the emergence of liberalism had popularized the concept of the “I” over the “we.” Since then people have debated relentlessly on whether the rights of the society should prevail over those of the individual. Although, some say that by trying to work for the common good personal growth is hindered, nevertheless, the rights of individuals should be kept secondary to that of the society’s so as to avoid conflicts that may be given rise to due to the pursuance of goals fueled by personal interests only. In addition to that, it is not possible for anyone to truly disconnect from the community he/she belongs to. Also, by placing the individual before the society, there runs a risk of social breakdown and disorder. In pursuit of personal rights, humans can be self-centered and can hurt the society rather than help it. The English philosopher and politician, John Locke, believed that individuals were invested with a set of God-given (natural) rights, which he defined as “life, liberty and property” (Heywood 29). In an environment where the individual is placed before the society, his/her top priority will be to attain these rights in order to improve his/her own quality of life with little regards to others’ welfare.
Open Document