Which philosopher argued that natural rights include life, liberty, and property that cannot be taken away?

• A. John Locke
• B. Thomas Hobbes
• C. Montesquieu
• D. Voltaire

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the theory of natural, inalienable rights. John Locke argued that people are born with rights that cannot be justly taken away: life, liberty, and property. Governments exist to protect these rights, and their legitimacy comes from doing that job. If rulers violate or ignore these rights, Locke says people have the right to resist or replace the government. This emphasis on property as part of the natural rights bundle, and on government being legit only when it protects those rights, is what sets Locke apart.

Hobbes, by contrast, argued for a strong sovereign to keep order because life in a state of nature would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” so citizens trade liberty for safety. Montesquieu concentrated on how government power should be divided to prevent tyranny. Voltaire championed freedom of expression and religious tolerance. Their ideas touch on rights and limits of government, but they don’t center the specific trio of life, liberty, and property as inalienable rights the way Locke does.