The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.

Steven Pinker
About This Quote

The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified. This quote is a good example of the importance of the individual in society. Rights are an idea that exists because we have individual desires and needs.

Source: The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial Of Human Nature

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