Question 1
"After long periods of error, philosophers have at last discovered the true rights of man and how they can all be deduced from the single truth that man is a perceptive being capable of reason and acquiring
moral ideas
Accessibility
At last, man could proclaim his rights out loud, rights that for so long had been ignored. He could submit all opinions to his own reason and use that reason to search for truth. Every man leart
that nature had not forever condemned him to base his beliefs on the opinions of others or the superstitions of antiquity
Submit
Thus developed an understanding that the natural rights of man are inalienable and cannot be forfeited and a strongly expressed desire for freedom of thought, trade, and profession. There also developed
a desire to alleviate people's suffering, to eliminate all criminal laws against political dissenters, and to abolish torture. A desire arose for a milder system of criminal legislation that could give complete
security to the innocent. All of these principles gradually filtered down from philosophical works to every class of society whose education went beyond basic literacy. These principles became the common
faith of all people.
Marquis de Condorcet, French nobleman and philosopher, Sketch for a Historical Picture of the Progress of the Human Mind published in 1794
Which of the following is the main claim that the author makes in the passage?
Europeans should learn from the knowledge and wisdom of classical Greece and Rome
Philosophy and science are fundamentally incompatible
Ethics and morality are subjective and culture-specific
D) People have natural rights that can be established through rational inquiry