is the legal or moral entitlement
to do or refrain from doing something, or to obtain or refrain from obtaining an action, thing or recognition in civil society
. Rights serve as rules of interaction between people, and, as such, they place constraints and obligations upon the actions of individuals or groups (for example, if one has a right to life
, this means that others do not have the liberty to kill him).
Most modern conceptions of rights are universalist and egalitarian — in other words, equal rights are granted to all people. There are two main modern conceptions of rights: on the one hand, the idea of natural rights holds that there is a certain list of rights enshrined in nature that cannot be legitimately modified by any human power. On the other hand, the idea of legal rights holds that rights are human constructs, created by society, enforced by governments and subject to change.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to rights:
The basis of rights
- Main articles: Liberty and Right
Types of rights
History of rights
- Main article: History of human rights
Basic rights-related concepts
Crimes against humanity
Leaders in human rights
Human Rights lists
- Main article: List of rights-related topics