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A "right" is a claim or title to something that cannot justly
be denied. A natural right is said to be imbued
by nature (or by God); a legal right is bestowed
by government. All rights impose a duty on others; liberty
rights (or negative rights) impose a duty not to interfere,
and entitlement rights (a type of positive rights)
require others to provide.
Individual
rights morally protect a person against oppression by the
powerful (such as the democratic majority, the government, or
other holders of power). Civil rights are group-oriented;
they are legal rights if government recognizes and enforces
them. However, civil rights also are rooted in moral rights
(i.e. "human rights") to such things as equal protection of
the laws.
Social
contract theories say that individuals have natural rights,
and that governments exist to protect those rights (e.g. life,
liberty, and property). Utilitarians insist that governments
bestow rights according to the general welfare. Communitarians
believe that rights must be understood against government's
need to encourage citizens to lead good lives. The Western tradition
of individual rights seeks to limit government power; the U.S.
Constitution embraces this tradition, though
it also expresses concern for the more utilitarian goal of "the
general welfare."
Rights
can powerfully conflict, especially as more and more human needs
(e.g. food, housing, education, health care) are said to be
a matter of human rights. There also are serious controversies
about the role of the judiciary in enforcing or implementing
rights. Our moral wisdom is seriously tested by the conflicts
between rights, and by disputes about how moral rights are to
be implemented in the positive rights of civil law.
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