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Full Idea
Rights are enforced in the name of justice, whereas power is enforced come what may.
Gist of Idea
A right is a power which is enforced in the name of justice
Source
Roger Scruton (Short History of Modern Philosophy [1981], Ch.14)
Book Ref
Scruton,Roger: 'A Short History of Modern Philosophy' [ARK 1985], p.199
A Reaction
Presumably rights can be claimed as well as enforced, and the notion of a natural right is at least a discussable concept, as in the 'right' of self-defence. Scruton offers us a very right-wing definition of rights.
| 5660 | Allegiance is prior to the recognition of individual rights [Scruton] |
| 5653 | A right is a power which is enforced in the name of justice [Scruton] |
| 5637 | Nowadays logic is seen as the science of extensions, not intensions [Scruton] |
| 5636 | Cartesian 'ideas' confuse concepts and propositions [Scruton] |