Aimee asked:

In the context of the American Declaration of Independence, the concept of unalienable rights is of
course understandable if God is accepted. However, the phrase, 'pursuit of happiness' is giving me a
problem. surely, this is not a declaration of Hedonism, but what exactly does this phrase claim? Is it
better to say, a right to self-fulfilment or a right or opportunity to resources to make someone happy?

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It says in the American Declaration of Independence that,

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just
powers from the consent of the governed...

Just what does that troublesome phrase, 'the pursuit of happiness' mean?

It is not a declaration of Hedonism. To say that one has a right to the pursuit of happiness does not
imply the — in my view, quite implausible — theory that every human action is ultimately motivated by
the desire for one's own pleasure or happiness, still less that every action is regarded by the agent as
a mere means towards the end of enjoying some pleasure, or feeling happy or contented.

I agree with you that the idea that life and liberty are not enough, that something needs to be added
to account for our God-given rights, has something to do with the availability of resources. What use
is liberty, the absence of interference or constraint in setting out the plan of your own life, if the lack of
resources means that there is no possibility that your plan could ever be brought to fruition? Everyone
has the right to a decent chance,that in plain terms is what the Declaration of Independence is
saying. We intuitively feel this to be true. A government that allowed a sector of the population to be
deprived of a decent chance, would be failing in its duty to its citizens.

Equally, the right to the necessary resources would not make up for the lack of liberty. Suppose a
government said, 'We will give you all the resources, all the opportunities for what we deem to be
your 'self-fulfilment'. That would be an apt description of the illiberal state described in Plato's
Republic.It clearly does not satisfy the conditions laid down by the Declaration of Independence.
Before the iron curtain fell, Communist regimes boasted that their citizens' 'economic freedom' more
than made up for their lack of political freedom. — But they were wrong.

Geoffrey Klempner