★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
1823 Decr 30
Non-penal & Penal CodeForm
§. Terminology
The only case one of the three cases in which the word right has any clear determinate
and intelligible meaning is that in which it has the adjunct word
political attached to it: in this case when a man is said
to have a right (mentioning it) or the existence of a certain
matter of fact is asserted: namely that of a disposition
on the part of those, by whom the powers of government are
exercised a disposition to cause him to possess, and have the
faculty so far as depends upon them have the faculty of enjoying
the benefit to which he has a right. If thus this assertion the fact thus suffered
is true, the case is that amongst them they are prepared
on occasion to render him this service: and to this
service on the part of the subordinate functionaries to whose
provision the matter belongs he has in that case a right if so it be,
which depends upon them to cause this same service to be
rendered by those same subordinate functionaries.
Now in the case of an alledged natural right no such
matter of fact has place: nor any matter of fact other
than what would have place supposing no such natural
right to have place. In this case no such functionaries
have place: or if they have, no such disposition on their part as above
has place: for if it has it is the case of a political
right and not of a merely natural right. A man is never
the better for having such natural right: admitt
that he has it his condition is not in any respect different
from what it would be if he had it not.
When If I say a man has a right to this coal
or to this piece of land meaning in the political sense of the word a political right what I
assert is a matter of fact: namely the existence of the disposition
in question as above.
When I say a man has a natural right to the
coal or the land all that this can mean if it mean anything
and mean true is that I am of opinion he ought to have a political
right to it: that the by appropriate services rendered upon occasion to him
by appropriate functionaries of government
he ought to be protected and secured in the
use of it: he ought to
be so: that is to say
the idea of his being so
is pleasing to me; the opposite idea of the opposite result displeasing. Or rather that I think it would be conducive to general happiness that the law
should give him a right to it.
|
Identifier: | JB/550/085/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 550.
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
550 |
|||
|
085 |
|||
|
001 |
|||