Right

:For the direction right, see left and right or starboard. For the political trend or ideology, see Right-wing politics.

Related Topics:
Left and right - Starboard - Right-wing politics

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:The following article discusses the notion of rights in matters of philosophy and Law.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A right is the power or privilege to which one is justly entitled or a thing to which one has a just claim. Many different types of rights have been described. Many of these terms describe overlapping concepts, and are often used interchangeably.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Human rights refers to the concept of human beings as having universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction, and likewise other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality.
• Inalienable rights (or unalienable rights) refers to a set of absolute rights that are endowed by God, not awarded by any human power and not capable of being repudiated or transfered to another power. The phrase is most famously used in the United States Declaration of Independence, where "unalienable rights" are said to include "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
• Natural rights exist as inherent ethical realities permitting persons to do certain things. Natural rights are based on natural law.
• Civil rights are the protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all citizens by law.
• Contractual rights are those based on laws agreed upon between persons for whom those laws are valid. A contractual right is a claim, on other persons, that is acknowledged and perhaps reciprocated among the principals associated with that claim. Specialized contractual rights exist as part of a "contract" or agreement between persons to whom these rights belong. One concept of rights is a principle of interaction between people which amounts to the simplest version of the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"). In other words, it is a mutually beneficial agreement between two or more people; each of them agrees to behave in a certain way towards the others so that they will behave in the same way towards him or her. Other concepts of rights do not necessarily involve this reciprocal supportiveness. Since ancient times there has existed a belief that parents are owed, as a right, the respect of their children. Similarly, the marriage ceremony is believed by many to confer rights upon the two parties in exchange for thus bonding their lives to each other. The move to making contractual rights mutual and equal is relatively modern. In ancient times contractual rights were often more one-sided, the rights of a father to be respected by his son didn't necessarily indicate a duty upon the father to return that respect. Even today, when we are so familiar with the concept of equal rights and mutual respect in society, the rights of children remain in dispute.

There is an important distinction to be made between positive rights, which oblige others in some way, and negative rights, which free oneself from obligation or coercion. In most views of law, it is not generally considered necessary that a right should be understood by a holder of that right, thus rights may be agreed on behalf of another, such as children's rights or the rights of people declared mentally incompetent to understand their rights. However, rights must be understood by somebody in order to have legal existence, so the understanding of rights is a social prerequisite for the existence of rights. Therefore, educational opportunities within society have a close bearing upon the people's ability to erect adequate rights structures.

Related Topics:
Positive right - Negative right - Children's rights - Education

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 
Right: Legal rights ►