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What is a Right?

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The Pentacle Queen
 
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 02:57 am
Confused What is a right? Confused

The word 'right' is used all the time in ethical discussions.
We are all supposed to have them.
We complain when we haven't got them.
But what are they?

This is why i have set up this board, in aid to clarify the word that is so often taken for granted.

I have my own opinions, which i may bring up later, but for the time being, i want your opinions on what you think, or what philosophers have said on the matter.

Thank you, and Goodnight!
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watchmakers guidedog
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 03:16 am
Re: What is a Right?
The Pentacle Queen wrote:
Confused What is a right? Confused


IMO

No such thing.
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The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 03:26 am
thats what i thought.
so why do we have human rights groups, animal rights groups and so on?
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val
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 03:42 am
Re: What is a Right?
The Pentacle Queen

Since here is morning, I'll say: "Have a good day!".

The word "right" can have multiple meanings, according to it's use.
Juridically it means all human interests that are legally protected.

Morally, a right decision is a good one, according to that moral system of values.


Quote:
The word 'right' is used all the time in ethical discussions.
We are all supposed to have them.
We complain when we haven't got them.
But what are they?


Yes, I believe we all have them. But saying that we both made the right decision doesn't mean we made the same decision. It depends on the moral or ethic values we accept.
The right decision depends on the moral you adopt.

I think it was Herodotus who described this situation:
A persian emperor called three slaves, captured on war. One was greek, the other hindu and the third a member of a nomad tribe. Greeks always buried their deads, hindus burned them, those nomads eat them (they were not cannibals, they did this as a tribute to the qualities of the deceased).
So, the emperor promised freedom and a fortune to any of the captives who accepted:
The greek, to burn the corpse of his dead father.
The hindu, to eat the corpse of his dead father.
The nomad, to bury the corpse of his dead father.

All three refused, with indignation.

The emperor thought that it meant that there is not any moral superior to the other. It was only a matter of tradition.

He was wrong. Because all the three slaves had one thing in common: they all deeply respect the deads. Only the ways they expressed that respect were different.
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spendius
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 03:53 am
The Pentacle Queen:-

We have them because they provide opportunities for attention seekers with drums to bang and such types are welcomed with open arms by media because their activities fill up large areas of white space at very low cost.
With a proper educational system in place there would be no need for them as it would be normal for everybody to respect everybody else and the animal companions of their lives.But that is a very long way off mainly due to the distractions provided by the groups you are exercised with who present a semblence of good doing which isn't happening.
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The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 03:56 am
I see your point.
Personally i dont believe that right and wrong exist, or that 'rights' exists as such. I think they are just concepts we have designed to help us live our lives better, like the idea of 'god'

I would define a right a little different than most people, probably. I would deine a right as a concept that we have, not that we should have.
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val
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 04:11 am
The Pentacle Queen
Quote:
Personally i dont believe that right and wrong exist, or that 'rights' exists as such. I think they are just concepts we have designed to help us live our lives better, like the idea of 'god'


Sure they are concepts.
But tell me: if you were sure no one would notice, would you have sexual relations with a 5 year child? Or would you kill somebody that displeases you?
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The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 04:29 am
maybe the latter.
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Cyracuz
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 04:32 am
right
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spendius
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 07:19 am
Never.
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Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 07:19 am
A right is something that everyone is entitled to. Regardless of sex, age, status, race....etc...
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The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:42 am
so it would seem bella,

but what about murderers, do they have rights?
no they dont, theyre normally in prison being kicked the s*** out of.
do poor people in africa have rights? not really, they cant do a thing, and they cant change their situation. Do battery hens have rights?
A right is something you have at the time, it is what circumstances you are in, not what you should be able to do.
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Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:48 am
The Pentacle Queen wrote:
so it would seem bella,

but what about murderers, do they have rights?
no they dont, theyre normally in prison being kicked the s*** out of.


They do have rights. They have the right to food and shelter. They get it even if no one thinks they deserve it.

The Pentacle Queen wrote:

do poor people in africa have rights? not really, they cant do a thing, and they cant change their situation.


They have the right to live. We wouldn't just go over there and kill them all because they are poor.


The Pentacle Queen wrote:

Do battery hens have rights?


What is a battery hen?

The Pentacle Queen wrote:

A right is something you have at the time, it is what circumstances you are in, not what you should be able to do.


You have the right to love who you want. No one can take that from you. They can keep you from expressing but not from loving.
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The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:52 am
Two quotes to outline the definitions of rights:

Quote:
Edmund Blackadder 'Woudlnt it be nice, if everyone was nice eh?'

This is an example of the humanist view, 'people all have rights, they are entitled to free education, healthcare.... Slavery is wrong....blah blah blah.' This clearly isnt practical though, a perfect world cant exist. I go by another quote of one of the most influencial philosophers in the film, The Pirates Of the Carribean:

Quote:
Jack Sparrow: 'The only rules are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do'

and this is my main argument against the idea that everyone should have rights, because everyone clearly doesnt have rights, and so 'rights' as such dont exist. Savy?
0 Replies
 
Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:54 am
The Pentacle Queen wrote:
Two quotes to outline the definitions of rights:

Quote:
Edmund Blackadder 'Woudlnt it be nice, if everyone was nice eh?'

This is an example of the humanist view, 'people all have rights, they are entitled to free education, healthcare.... Slavery is wrong....blah blah blah.' This clearly isnt practical though, a perfect world cant exist. I go by another quote of one of the most influencial philosophers in the film, The Pirates Of the Carribean:

Quote:
Jack Sparrow: 'The only rules are these: what a man can do and what a man can't do'

and this is my main argument against the idea that everyone should have rights, because everyone clearly doesnt have rights, and so 'rights' as such dont exist. Savy?


I don't understand your definition of right. Maybe I am daft but are you saying that there are 2 different types of right? The theoretical kind and the actual kind?
0 Replies
 
The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:54 am
Btw, a battery hen is a hen that lives with about 8 other hens in a tiny box and never sees the light of day and is fed lots of chemicals to make it lay eggs even though its to week to do so. All in the name of economy...
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Bella Dea
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 08:55 am
The Pentacle Queen wrote:
Btw, a battery hen is a hen that lives with about 8 other hens in a tiny box and never sees the light of day and is fed lots of chemicals to make it lay eggs even though its to week to do so. All in the name of economy...


Ahhh...

Are we talking about humans or animals in this thread?
0 Replies
 
The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 09:17 am
both.

yes i am saying there are two types of right, but which one is right? ha ha!

also, when did rights start comming into fashion? Im sure cave men never talked about them, they just accepted the way things were.
Here is an obsovation for you: 'rights are only as old as society'
0 Replies
 
spendius
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 09:31 am
The Pentacle Queen:-

I agree Queenie.About the hens.It's a disgrace.

Where did you get the "8" from.It's 80 bloody thousand don't you know.

Get to bed.
0 Replies
 
The Pentacle Queen
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Apr, 2005 09:36 am
o.k i was wrong, i guessed inacurately i suppose.
and for the last time, im not gonna go to bed when the suns shining and theres work to be done.
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