HUMAN RIGHTS

I. What is a “right”?

A. a right is an entitlement, something to which you are entitled

B. Rights and duties are connected

1. If ‘A’ has a right, others (B,C,D,...) have duties. This is always and necessarily so. If you have a right to life, I have a duty not to kill you.

2. A right of ‘A’ does not imply a duty of ‘A’. You can have rights without having duties. (an infant, for example)

3. A duty of ‘B’ does not necessarily imply a right of ‘A’. Perhaps you ought to help a friend in need (a duty of friendship), but that does not mean she has a right to demand your help.

C. There are various kinds of rights

1. Legal rights (as opposed to moral or human rights) - in some states you have the legal right to gamble. Legal rights depend upon the political unit in which you live.

2. Moral rights - having to do with what you are morally entitled to; these may conflict with legal rights. Slavery was once a legal condition in this nation though most of us would consider the right to live in a condition of freedom a moral right.

3. Specific rights - claimed by specific people for specific reasons. A child has the right to parental care, but only to a specific parent. (the neighbor’s kids don’t have a right to parental care from your parents, only their own)

4. General rights - those which all humans possess, such as the rights to life and liberty.

5. Positive & Negative rights - positive rights require doing, negative rights are the refraining from action.

Examples:

Positive - I have the right to the $100 I loaned you, you have the duty to repay me.

Negative- I have the right to life, you have the duty to refrain from killing me.

6. Active & Passive rights-

a. active rights are those you exercise, such as freedom of speech, or to marry whom you wish

b. passive rights are those that have to do with what others may not do. How do you exercise your right not to be killed?