| '''Rights''' are variously construed as [[legal]], social, or [[moral]] [[freedoms]] to [[act]] or refrain from acting, or entitlements to be acted upon or not acted upon. While the [[concept]] is [[fundamental]] to [[civilized]] [[societies]], there is considerable disagreement about what is meant precisely by the term rights. It has been used by [[different]] [[groups]] and [[thinkers]] for [[different]] [[purposes]], with different and sometimes [[opposing]] definitions, and the precise definition of the [[concept]], beyond having something to do with [[normative]] rules of some sort or another, is controversial. Nevertheless, the [[concept]] of rights is of vital importance in such [[disciplines]] as [[law]] and [[ethics]], especially [[theories]] of [[justice]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontology deontology]. | | '''Rights''' are variously construed as [[legal]], social, or [[moral]] [[freedoms]] to [[act]] or refrain from acting, or entitlements to be acted upon or not acted upon. While the [[concept]] is [[fundamental]] to [[civilized]] [[societies]], there is considerable disagreement about what is meant precisely by the term rights. It has been used by [[different]] [[groups]] and [[thinkers]] for [[different]] [[purposes]], with different and sometimes [[opposing]] definitions, and the precise definition of the [[concept]], beyond having something to do with [[normative]] rules of some sort or another, is controversial. Nevertheless, the [[concept]] of rights is of vital importance in such [[disciplines]] as [[law]] and [[ethics]], especially [[theories]] of [[justice]] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontology deontology]. |