Definition
Self-Evident Truths is a conceptual framework that founds human rights and equality on rationality and logical necessity rather than on religious dogma or “sacred” revelation. It posits that certain principles (e.g., “all men are created equal”) are “analytic truths” that are as undeniable as the axioms of mathematics.
Why It Matters
Framing rights as self-evident truths provides a ‘rational firewall’ for human dignity; it removes fundamental equality from the realm of opinion or religious debate and anchors it in the same logical necessity as mathematics.
Core Concepts
- The “Self-Evident” Edit: Benjamin Franklin’s change to Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence, moving from “sacred and undeniable” (religious) to “self-evident” (rational/scientific).
- Hume’s Fork: The distinction between synthetic truths (matters of fact) and analytic truths (self-evident by reason). Rights are presented as the latter to make them universal and incontrovertible.
- Scientific Determinism: Applying the logic of Newton and Leibniz to the social order. Just as the laws of physics are “self-evident,” the rights of the governed are seen as inherent to the “system” of humanity.
- The Consent Contract: If equality is self-evident, then any government without the consent of the governed is a logical contradiction and thus illegitimate.