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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpg *Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 1766] ==Definition== *rights (as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarde...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 1766]
==Definition==
*rights (as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all persons
==Description==
'''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].
One way to look at [[different]] senses of the term of rights is to [[examine]] [[contrasting]] [[ideas]] about the [[concept]].
* ''Natural rights'' are rights which are derived from [[Nature]] or [[God]]. They are [[universal]]; they don't depend on the [[laws]] of a specific [[society]]. They exist [[necessarily]] and can't be taken away. For example, it has been [[argued]] that humans have a natural right to life. They're sometimes called [[moral]] rights or ''inalienable rights''.
* [[Legal]] rights, in [[contrast]], are based on a [[society]]'s [[customs]], [[laws]], statutes or [[actions]] by legislatures. An example of a legal right is the right to vote of [[citizens]]. Citizenship, itself, is often considered as the basis for having [[legal]] rights, and has been defined as the "right to have rights". Legal rights are sometimes called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights civil rights] or statutory rights and are [[culturally]] and [[politically]] [[relative]] since they depend on a specific societal [[context]] to have [[meaning]].
Some see rights in only one sense while others accept that both senses have a [[measure]] of validity. There has been considerable philosophical debate about these senses throughout history. For example, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham] believed that legal rights were the [[essence]] of rights, and he denied the [[existence]] of natural rights; whereas [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas Thomas Aquinas] held that rights purported by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_law positive law] but not grounded in [[natural law]] were not properly rights at all, but only a facade or pretense of rights.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights]
[[Category: Law]]
*Date: [http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/18th_Century 1766]
==Definition==
*rights (as freedom from unlawful imprisonment, torture, and execution) regarded as belonging fundamentally to all persons
==Description==
'''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].
One way to look at [[different]] senses of the term of rights is to [[examine]] [[contrasting]] [[ideas]] about the [[concept]].
* ''Natural rights'' are rights which are derived from [[Nature]] or [[God]]. They are [[universal]]; they don't depend on the [[laws]] of a specific [[society]]. They exist [[necessarily]] and can't be taken away. For example, it has been [[argued]] that humans have a natural right to life. They're sometimes called [[moral]] rights or ''inalienable rights''.
* [[Legal]] rights, in [[contrast]], are based on a [[society]]'s [[customs]], [[laws]], statutes or [[actions]] by legislatures. An example of a legal right is the right to vote of [[citizens]]. Citizenship, itself, is often considered as the basis for having [[legal]] rights, and has been defined as the "right to have rights". Legal rights are sometimes called [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights civil rights] or statutory rights and are [[culturally]] and [[politically]] [[relative]] since they depend on a specific societal [[context]] to have [[meaning]].
Some see rights in only one sense while others accept that both senses have a [[measure]] of validity. There has been considerable philosophical debate about these senses throughout history. For example, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham Jeremy Bentham] believed that legal rights were the [[essence]] of rights, and he denied the [[existence]] of natural rights; whereas [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas Thomas Aquinas] held that rights purported by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_law positive law] but not grounded in [[natural law]] were not properly rights at all, but only a facade or pretense of rights.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights]
[[Category: Law]]