# Natural Law: An Introduction **URL:** **By** Barbara Galletti **Published:** January 8, 2026 --- No State = No rights? Governments typically respect certain basic rights, like the right to life, free speech, or private property. What happens when a government doesn’t recognize these rights? Does that translate into a lawless and violent society? What if the state did not exist at all? Does that mean laws don’t exist? Or that people don’t have rights? For hundreds of years, thinkers have tried to answer this problem by attempting to understand the origin of laws and rights that would pre-date not only the state, but also societies themselves. One popular answer is found in the concept of “Natural Law.” RESOURCES: **Natural Law** [https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/natural-law](https://www.libertarianism.org/natural-law-0) [https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ciceros-natural-law-political-philosophy](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ciceros-natural-law-political-philosophy) [https://www.libertarianism.org/publications/essays/natural-law-dead-or-alive](https://www.libertarianism.org/essays/natural-law-dead-or-alive) **John Locke** [https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/locke-john-1632-1704](https://www.libertarianism.org/locke-john-1632-1704) **Cato’s Letters (#42)** [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Cato%27s_Letters/Letter_42](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Cato%27s_Letters/Letter_42) _This is the fourth episode of our Learning Hub series! Subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss one of our monthly lessons._