Full Idea
Rights originate only where there are contracts; but for there to be contracts, a certain balance of power must exist.
Gist of Idea
Rights arise out of contracts, which need a balance of power
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Writings from Late Notebooks [1887], 05[82])
Book Reference
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Writings from the Late Notebooks', ed/tr. Bittner,Rüdiger [CUP 2003], p.121
A Reaction
It is a notorious problem with contractual ethics that the weak have nothing to bargain with. Nietzsche's view would make the concept of animal rights almost incoherent, but we understand them, even if he would not have done.