Q.What are rights and why are they important? What are the bases on which claims to rights can be made?

A right is an entitlement or justified claim — something we are due, which society must recognise and protect, unlike a mere personal want. Rights matter because they secure the conditions, such as dignity/self-respect and well-being, that make a full human life possible.

A right, as this chapter defines it, is an entitlement: something we consider is due to us and that the rest of society must recognise as a legitimate claim it is obliged to uphold. This is a narrower idea than simply wanting something — wanting to wear particular clothes to school, or wanting to stay out late, does not make either of these a right, however strongly a person feels about it, because there is no obligation on others to grant it.

Rights matter because they secure the conditions a person needs to live a life of dignity and to develop as a person, not merely to exist. Two grounds are usually offered for claiming a right. The first is dignity and self-respect: a livelihood gives a person economic independence and the freedom to pursue their talents; freedom of expression lets a person create and think for themselves and is also essential to a functioning democracy. Because such rights matter for every human being, they are described as universal. The second ground is well-being: education, for example, develops a person's capacity to reason and make informed choices, and is therefore also treated as a universal right. This second ground also marks a limit — an activity that harms a person's own health or harms others (such as using banned drugs, or smoking in ways that endanger others) cannot be claimed as a right, because it works against the very purpose rights are meant to serve.