ABSTRACT

The twentieth century saw a vigorous debate over the nature of rights. Will theorists argue that the function of rights allocate domains of freedom. Interest theorists portrayed rights as defenders of well-being. This chapter offers a new analysis of rights. It sets out an analytical framework adequate for explicating all assertions of rights. This framework is an elaboration of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld's, designed around a template for displaying the often complex internal structures of rights. There are two fundamental forms of rights assertions: "A has a right to phi" and "A has a right that B phi," where "phi" is an active verb. The chapter connects these two fundamental forms of assertion to the four Hohfeldian incidents: the privilege, the claim, the power, and the immunity. It examines how rights assertions that lack active verbs can be translated into active-verb form.