Rights

Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement, serving as fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of or owed to people according to a legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. They are an important concept in law and ethics, especially in theories of justice and deontology, and have been central to social conflicts throughout history as groups attempt to define and redefine them. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, rights shape the structure of governments, the content of laws, and the current perception of morality. Historically, a prevailing view held that no conception of rights existed in the ancient world; Alasdair MacIntyre argued that no ancient or medieval language had an expression correctly translated as "a right" until near the close of the Middle Ages, and that if such rights existed, no one could have known of them. Benjamin Constant similarly stated that the ancients had no conception of individual rights. However, more recent scholarship has challenged this notion, suggesting that rights did exist in ancient societies. Rights are often categorized in several ways. Natural rights are considered universal, deriving from human nature or divine edicts, inhere in every individual, and cannot be taken away, such as a right to life; these are sometimes called moral or inalienable rights. Legal rights, also called civil or statutory rights, are based on a society's customs, laws, or legislative actions, such as the right to vote, and are culturally and politically relative. Some thinkers, like Jeremy Bentham, denied natural rights and accepted only legal rights, while others, like Thomas Aquinas, held that rights not grounded in natural law were merely a pretense. Claim rights entail that another person has a duty to the right-holder, such as an obligation not to assault or to provide social welfare services. Liberty rights, or privileges, are simply permissions to act without imposing duties on others, such as the freedom to speak, though other claim rights may limit this freedom. Positive rights permit or require action, while negative rights permit or require inaction.