Natural rights theories have powerful reasons to limit the strength, scope and duration of intellectual property rights. These reasons come in two forms – limitations internal to the basic functioning of natural rights as such and limitations arising from rights-based considerations external to the property right. In terms of internal constraints, all natural rights conform to a variety of conditions delimiting the extent and strength of their application. Such conditions include, inter alia, requirements for consistency, universalisability and non-worsening. Like all rights, natural property rights must fulfil these conditions – but such rights require substantial limitations in order to legitimate their capacity to unilaterally impose new duties on others. Consideration of these conditions is, I argue, not sufficient to rule out natural intellectual property rights – but such conditions decisively limit the extent of those rights. By focusing upon the most general and deep-seated mechanisms of natural rights thought, this argument aims to be applicable to all natural rights theories. I argue natural rights theories have good reasons to accept one, if not both, of two conditions in particular: robust universalisability and self-ownership. As strong intellectual property rights violate both conditions, I conclude such rights cannot be justified by any recognisable natural rights theory. Turning to external considerations, I argue all individuals have a right to intellectual liberty – the right to inform their actions by learning about the world. This is a negative right: it grants freedom from interference in apprehending, investigating and thinking about the world, and in subsequently acting upon what has been learned. I argue this right is grounded in all Enlightenment views of human freedom and flourishing; it is supported by classical liberal State of Nature perspectives, and arises out of respect for human independence, self-governance, self-legislation, self-creation, autonomy and individuality. Acceptance of this right has profound consequences for the strength and scope of intellectual property regimes. I describe the extent we can find this right already operative – albeit in schematic and inchoate form – in contemporary intellectual property law.

Natural rights theories have powerful reasons to limit the strength, scope and duration of intellectual property rights. These reasons come in two forms – limitations internal to the basic functioning of natural rights as such and limitations arising from rights-based considerations external to the property right. In terms of internal constraints, all natural rights conform to a variety of conditions delimiting the extent and strength of their application. Such conditions include, inter alia, requirements for consistency, universalisability and non-worsening. Like all rights, natural property rights must fulfil these conditions – but such rights require substantial limitations in order to legitimate their capacity to unilaterally impose new duties on others. Consideration of these conditions is, I argue, not sufficient to rule out natural intellectual property rights – but such conditions decisively limit the extent of those rights. By focusing upon the most general and deep-seated mechanisms of natural rights thought, this argument aims to be applicable to all natural rights theories. I argue natural rights theories have good reasons to accept one, if not both, of two conditions in particular: robust universalisability and self-ownership. As strong intellectual property rights violate both conditions, I conclude such rights cannot be justified by any recognisable natural rights theory. Turning to external considerations, I argue all individuals have a right to intellectual liberty – the right to inform their actions by learning about the world. This is a negative right: it grants freedom from interference in apprehending, investigating and thinking about the world, and in subsequently acting upon what has been learned. I argue this right is grounded in all Enlightenment views of human freedom and flourishing; it is supported by classical liberal State of Nature perspectives, and arises out of respect for human independence, self-governance, self-legislation, self-creation, autonomy and individuality. Acceptance of this right has profound consequences for the strength and scope of intellectual property regimes. I describe the extent we can find this right already operative – albeit in schematic and inchoate form – in contemporary intellectual property law.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O presente trabalho pretende tratar do problema da crítica à ideia de estado de natureza e de direitos naturais realizada por Edmund Burke. Procuraremos demonstrar como a crítica aos conceitos fundamentais que orientam a reflexão sobre a ordem social e política dos iluministas e dos autores sob sua influência percorre toda a obra de Burke, desde seu primeiro escrito político, Vindication on Natural Society até os últimos escritos contra a Revolução Francesa. Burke reconhece na classe pensante emergente, no racionalismo abstrato e universalista daquilo que ele chama de política "metafísica", o prenúncio da crise que se imporia sobre os conceitos que fundamentavam a ordem social e política existente. A partir de uma defesa das instituições e das tradições britânicas, concretizadas na Constituição e, especialmente, no Bill of Rights, Burke produz uma interpretação da política que utilizará a história para combater a filosofia política do direito natural. / This essay intend to deal with Edmund Burkes criticism to the state of nature and natural rights philosophy. We aim to show how the critics to the main enlightenment political and social concepts are present in Burke works, since the first political essay, Vindication on Natural Society, until the last counter-revolutionary works. Burke recognizes in the emerging intelligentsia and in the abstract and universalistic rationalism that he calls political metaphysic the announcement of the crisis in the existent social and political order. Starting from the defense of the british institutions and traditions, specially the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Burke will defend a historical thought against the natural rights political philosophy.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A presente dissertação constitui uma investigação no campo da filosofia moral moderna, acerca do surgimento de um traço constitutivo das principais teorias morais modernas: o individualismo. Esse conceito é examinado, principalmente, à luz da filosofia prática de John Stuart Mill. A investigação inicia-se com a análise da emergência da moderna tradição dos direitos naturais, surgida com o escopo de equacionar os dilemas morais advindos de um contexto histórico-cultural particular. Em seguida, investiga-se o surgimento da tradição moral utilitarista e sua crítica ao moderno jusnaturalismo. A seguir, analisa-se como o próprio utilitarismo, contudo, torna-se objeto de críticas que incidem sobre o que seria a) a sua incapacidade de elaborar uma concepção de vida humana qualitativamente distinta da vida de outros animais; e b) sobre a insuficiente consideração do utilitarismo pelas liberdades individuais. A dissertação investiga, pois, os esforços de Mill para fazer frente a tais críticas e, assim, "redescrever" a tradição utilitarista. As tentativas de Mill de responder às críticas feitas ao utilitarismo o afastam da formulação clássica dessa escola de pensamento. Mill torna-se, assim, um utilitarista sui generis. A presente dissertação sugere que Mill, ao objetivar resguardar o utilitarismo das críticas que esta tradição recebera, elabora uma das mais influentes teorias morais individualistas da contemporaneidade. / The present dissertation is an investigation in the field of modern moral philosophy, about the appearance of a constitutive feature of the main modern moral theories: the individualism. This concept is examined, especially in the light of practical philosophy of John Stuart Mill. The investigation begins with the analysis of the emergence of modern natural rights tradition, which rose with the scope of equating moral dilemmas coming from a particular historical and cultural context. Then is investigated the appearance of utilitarian moral tradition and its critique of modern natural law. Next, is analyzed how utilitarianism itself, however, becomes the object of criticism which incides on what would be a) its inability to elaborate a conception of qualitatively distinct human life from the life of other animals; b) about the insufficient consideration of utilitarianism over individual freedoms. The dissertation investigates therefore Mill's efforts to confront such criticisms and thus "re-describe" the utilitarian tradition. Mill's attempts to answer criticisms of utilitarianism turn him away from the classic formulation of this school of thought. Mill becomes thus a sui generis utilitarian. The present dissertation suggests that Mill, by targeting protect the utilitarianism from the criticisms that this tradition received, elaborates one of the most influential individualistic moral theories of contemporaneity.

This diploma thesis deals with the issue of harm to natural human rights and its compensation. The thesis focuses on the current regulation of this institute contained in The Civil Code No. 89/2012 Coll. Furthermore, in this work, the current regulation is compared with the previous regulation, namely Civil Code No. 40/1964 Coll. The main aim of this work is to provide a basic and comprehensive insight into the issue of harm to natural human rights, focusing on the description of the changes brought about by the adoption of the new Civil Code. Another aim of the thesis is to outline the consequences of these changes. At the beginning the diploma thesis focuses on all the articles of the first part of the Civil Code, which deal with the regulation of natural rights. In the next part of the thesis it provides a general insight into the issue of liability for the damage caused to natural rights. This general basis is necessary for the next part of the work, which deals with claims for compensation of immaterial harm and decision on its amount according to the new Civil Code. The most extensive third part of the thesis therefore deals with specific remedies, namely compensation in the event of injury and the death and indemnification of secondary victims. At the end, the diploma thesis mentions another...

Os estudos da obra de Hugo Grotius apontam a sua importância para a constituição de um conceito moderno de direito natural. A análise do conteúdo de suas principais obras políticas, De Jure Praedae Commentarius e De Jure Belli ac Pacis, permitiu a identificação de noções inspiradas no estoicismo e no ecletismo romano, principalmente de Sêneca e Cícero, sobretudo no que diz respeito ao direito natural. Além disso, a abordagem jusnaturalista do autor serve de base para fundamentar seus argumentos em defesa da possibilidade de se empreender uma guerra justa. Deste modo, uma análise do direito natural grociano requer a reflexão sobre estes dois aspectos. Com vistas a compreender a origem dos conceitos de lei natural e direito natural e as consequências que Grotius retira deles, a presente dissertação investigou a possível influência estoica e eclética na concepção de direito natural formulada por Groitus e o vínculo existente entre esta formulação e a teoria grociana da guerra e da pena. / Studies of Hugo Grotius\'s work suggest its relevance for the constitution of a modern concept of natural law. The analysis of the content of his main political works, De Jure Praedae Commentarius and De Jure Belli ac Pacis, opened space for the identification of concepts inspired by the Roman stoicism and eclecticism, specially from Seneca and Cicero, mainly regarding the natural law. Moreover, the author\'s jusnaturalistic approach serves as a base to support his arguments in defence of the possibility to wage a just war. Therefore, an analysis of the Grotian natural law requires a reflection upon these two aspects. Aiming at comprehending the origin of the concepts of natural law and natural rights and the consequences Grotius retrieves from them, the present dissertation investigates a possible stoic and eclectic infuence on the conception of natural rights formulated by Grotius and the link between this formulation and the Grotian\'s theory of war and punishment.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / O presente trabalho pretende tratar do problema da crítica à ideia de estado de natureza e de direitos naturais realizada por Edmund Burke. Procuraremos demonstrar como a crítica aos conceitos fundamentais que orientam a reflexão sobre a ordem social e política dos iluministas e dos autores sob sua influência percorre toda a obra de Burke, desde seu primeiro escrito político, Vindication on Natural Society até os últimos escritos contra a Revolução Francesa. Burke reconhece na classe pensante emergente, no racionalismo abstrato e universalista daquilo que ele chama de política "metafísica", o prenúncio da crise que se imporia sobre os conceitos que fundamentavam a ordem social e política existente. A partir de uma defesa das instituições e das tradições britânicas, concretizadas na Constituição e, especialmente, no Bill of Rights, Burke produz uma interpretação da política que utilizará a história para combater a filosofia política do direito natural. / This essay intend to deal with Edmund Burkes criticism to the state of nature and natural rights philosophy. We aim to show how the critics to the main enlightenment political and social concepts are present in Burke works, since the first political essay, Vindication on Natural Society, until the last counter-revolutionary works. Burke recognizes in the emerging intelligentsia and in the abstract and universalistic rationalism that he calls political metaphysic the announcement of the crisis in the existent social and political order. Starting from the defense of the british institutions and traditions, specially the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, Burke will defend a historical thought against the natural rights political philosophy.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A presente dissertação constitui uma investigação no campo da filosofia moral moderna, acerca do surgimento de um traço constitutivo das principais teorias morais modernas: o individualismo. Esse conceito é examinado, principalmente, à luz da filosofia prática de John Stuart Mill. A investigação inicia-se com a análise da emergência da moderna tradição dos direitos naturais, surgida com o escopo de equacionar os dilemas morais advindos de um contexto histórico-cultural particular. Em seguida, investiga-se o surgimento da tradição moral utilitarista e sua crítica ao moderno jusnaturalismo. A seguir, analisa-se como o próprio utilitarismo, contudo, torna-se objeto de críticas que incidem sobre o que seria a) a sua incapacidade de elaborar uma concepção de vida humana qualitativamente distinta da vida de outros animais; e b) sobre a insuficiente consideração do utilitarismo pelas liberdades individuais. A dissertação investiga, pois, os esforços de Mill para fazer frente a tais críticas e, assim, "redescrever" a tradição utilitarista. As tentativas de Mill de responder às críticas feitas ao utilitarismo o afastam da formulação clássica dessa escola de pensamento. Mill torna-se, assim, um utilitarista sui generis. A presente dissertação sugere que Mill, ao objetivar resguardar o utilitarismo das críticas que esta tradição recebera, elabora uma das mais influentes teorias morais individualistas da contemporaneidade. / The present dissertation is an investigation in the field of modern moral philosophy, about the appearance of a constitutive feature of the main modern moral theories: the individualism. This concept is examined, especially in the light of practical philosophy of John Stuart Mill. The investigation begins with the analysis of the emergence of modern natural rights tradition, which rose with the scope of equating moral dilemmas coming from a particular historical and cultural context. Then is investigated the appearance of utilitarian moral tradition and its critique of modern natural law. Next, is analyzed how utilitarianism itself, however, becomes the object of criticism which incides on what would be a) its inability to elaborate a conception of qualitatively distinct human life from the life of other animals; b) about the insufficient consideration of utilitarianism over individual freedoms. The dissertation investigates therefore Mill's efforts to confront such criticisms and thus "re-describe" the utilitarian tradition. Mill's attempts to answer criticisms of utilitarianism turn him away from the classic formulation of this school of thought. Mill becomes thus a sui generis utilitarian. The present dissertation suggests that Mill, by targeting protect the utilitarianism from the criticisms that this tradition received, elaborates one of the most influential individualistic moral theories of contemporaneity.

The topic of this thesis is an examination of the issue of the justification of human rights from the perspective of three Czech thinkers: Božena Komárková, Jakub S. Trojan and Ladislav Hejdánek. While Komárková and Trojan choose a theological approach, Hejdánek prefers a purely philosophical method. With regards to their differing perspectives, the thesis asks several key questions: To what extent did Christianity affect human rights? Are human rights natural? How and how narrow is the interconnection between the conceptions of human rights, freedom, truth, justice and responsibility? The answers to these questions come mainly from a comparison of the concepts of the chosen thinkers. Although each of them chose a different method and held different views, they, interestingly, more or less agree in their answers to the questions asked. All three thinkers agreed that Christianity is an integral part of the origin and the development of the idea of human rights. In the same way, they all agreed on a critical attitude towards natural rights - although different considerations led them to this conclusion. Special attention is dedicated to how the given authors understood the concept of truth and how they included it in their conceptions of human rights and their justification. There is a parallel...

Historically unjust wars have never improved the standard of living for the American citizen and have served to suppress the inherent natural rights of the human beings involved. In conclusion, I combine contemporary and historical arguments to highlight the continuing stream of injustice that exists in American foreign policy.; The conceptual bases of this thesis include the philosophical constructs of Just War Theory, limited government, and natural rights as applied to foreign policy. Just War Theory was originally articulated by St. Augustine and represents the requirements a nation must satisfy to wage war justly. Building upon the basis of Just War Theory, I then split the discussion into two main categories. The first is a historical look at certain American thinkers and their reactions to what they saw as unjust wars based in their strong idealistic goals for humanity. The second is a critical examination of American foreign policy based upon the analytical model arising from these American thinkers. The thesis concludes with an examination of contemporary applications of this analysis with an examination of recent wars that have taken place in the Middle East and an assessment of their just or unjust nature. My historical research examines the arguments of Thomas Paine, Emma Goldman, Henry David Thoreau, and Martin Luther King, Jr. I will review each thinker to highlight their criticisms of the unjust wars in which America has been involved from the 18th Century to the 21st Century. A secondary goal of this research is to trace a pattern of idealistic thinking that is present in American Revolutionary thought. These ideals refer to notions of natural rights, social liberty, economic freedom, and the constant pursuit of justice. By using the established arguments put forth by these four American thinkers, I argue that another unjust war will only bring misery to America and any other nation involved. Finally, my contemporary research develops the CIA term "blowback" and its effect on American foreign policy. By applying the theory of blowback to the current military disputes in which the United States has been or could be involved, I attempt to persuade the reader to resist the notion of engaging in another war.