… Talking again about the right to freedom, the situation is the same. That is, the right to freedom is as vulnerable in the face of social inequalities as the right to property, which Gao has just discussed. For example, the constitution stipulates only that "people have freedom of speech and thought." We have to ask whether, in order to enjoy these kinds of freedoms, people do not also need some corresponding life capabilities? [If so], then should society not have (...) to provide each individual with the appropriate capabilities and facilities? The first precondition for all those who want to enjoy the freedom of speech and thought is to be able to live. If not even one's life can be protected, then it is impossible for one to receive an education. And even if one's life is protected and an education received, and even if one does not have any other problems, still, if there are no library facilities in society and no scholars to advise one or to stimulate one's academic interests, or if society, because of its industrial system or because of other customs, does not give one convenient opportunities for study, then how can one enjoy the high-sounding freedoms of speech and thought stipulated in the constitution? (shrink)

Gao Yihan was among the Chinese thinkers most familiar with Western political thought. He graduated from Meiji University in Japan in 1916, returned to China and was appointed professor of political science at Beijing University in 1918, where he remained until 1926. He subsequently taught at the Law School of the China National Institute of Shanghai, served as a member of the control Yuan, and after 1949 was dean of the Law School of Nanjing University. He wrote extensively on political (...) theory, evaluating and synthesizing various trends in Western political thought. Rights figure prominently in Gao's writings; in addition to being one of the most subtle analysts of the general notion of rights writing in China, Gao was among the earliest advocates of economic rights. The first excerpt we translate here comes from one of Gao's earliest writings and articulates the central features of the conception of rights he discusses throughout his career: Rights are to be protected by the state, but they are neither innate nor ends in themselves. The second excerpt comes from a slightly later essay in which Gao makes explicit that rights, in his view, have an economic as well as a political dimension. (shrink)