8. Rights

Question 1

What are Rights?

Answer 1

• A “right” is a non-negotiable claim.
• Historically rights were only for important/special people
• For example Royalty, nobility or high Church authority figures were seen as having certain special rights (ie. Privileges because of their importance).
• Now rights are for all individuals (ie. Human rights).

Question 2

What Rights do We Have?

Answer 2

• countries and organizations will list the rights of their citizens/members.
• Your rights change based on place. (U.S. and Canada).
• There is no clear agreement on if there are Universal rights and what they are.

Question 3

Where Do Rights Come From?

Answer 3

1. Rights are natural/God given.
2. Rights are a Social Creation

Question 4

What are Natural/God Given rights?

Answer 4

• Rights are a part of who we are
• They are granted by God
• This view makes the claim of a right very strong since it is rooted in something very powerful and fundamental
• The problem is that it is hard to clearly know which rights are truly given to us by God.

Question 5

What are rights as a Social Creation?

Answer 5

• This view claims that “rights” are an expression of the values that exist in our society.
• This deals with the issue of knowing which rights we actually have because Society chooses.
• This makes rights very weak since they’re a matter of current opinions and values
• As values or opinions change, so too can rights be altered, added or removed.