Personhood is a central issue in debates about ethics and natural rights. For any theory of ethics or system of declaring natural rights that claims how man should be treated and/or what rights he is entitled to must begin with what “man” is. There is no doubt that man possesses an inherent value that entities such as flies and trees lack. This value does not come from mere physical form, but from what constitutes personality; because these things can be separated from our physical form, they may fail to be developed or instantiated within the physical form of man. Natural rights and the debate over their nature and origin are long-standing issues in philosophical and political communities. One thing that seems clear is the status of the person in these debates. It is the inherent value of man, his personality, which implies the possession of these natural rights. However, the term personality desperately needs to be lifted. Having disambiguated this term and identified its necessary characteristics, it will be essential to discuss how and why these characteristics may not be fully instantiated in the physical form of man. If it is possible that all men are born with the seeds of these characteristics of a divine creator; there remains the fact that it is possible for them to be removed or separated from a man's physical form. It therefore seems to follow that certain environments, or societal systems, are favorable to the development of these personality characteristics and, by extension, natural rights. For many reasons, which will be discussed in more depth, democracy as implemented in the United States is the better equipped system middle of paper...... that has been around longer, or when When the ruler becomes oppressive and begins to act against the good of the people, he has the right, if not the absolute duty, to overthrow that authority. Rousseau gives a more developmental account of the social contract while maintaining the centrality of property. within his theory. The state of nature was actually preferable in Rousseau's theory, because he believes that the invention of private property was the main cause of what he calls the "disgrace" of the human sciences. This progression began with population growth forcing people to live closer to each other. The formation of small communities leads to the division of labor and to certain inventions which make life easier but also inevitably lead to competition and comparison. Private property was the result and marked the beginning of pronounced inequality and the development of social classes..