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How did John Locke explain natural rights?

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John Locke, a pivotal figure of the Enlightenment, argued that individuals possess certain self-evident rights as human beings, which exist independently of any government. He posited that in a hypothetical "state of nature," all people are naturally free and equal, subject only to the law of nature.12

Locke identified the fundamental natural rights as:
* Life: The right to exist and be free from harm.13
* Liberty: Freedom from arbitrary rule and the ability to act within the bounds of natural law.13
* Property: The right to own what one has acquired, particularly through one's own labor.134

Locke explained that when individuals enter civil society via a "social contract," they do not surrender these rights; rather, they delegate to the state the power to enforce them. Because the state’s legitimacy is derived from its duty to protect these rights, any government that fails to secure them or acts arbitrarily loses its authority, thereby justifying revolution by the people.134