Right
Right, as an adjective, describes the quality of an action as in conformity with moral law; as a substantive, the claim of a person upon others consequent upon the equal subjection of all to moral law. A right action (rectum) is an action agreeable to our duty, but a man's right (jus) has a very different meaning. What I have a right to do, it is the duty of all men not to hinder me from doing, and what I have a right to demand of any man, it is his duty to perform. A man's right is that which is vested in him by society, and because its laws may not always be conformable to the supreme rule of human action, viz. the Divine Law, the two words may often be properly opposed. We may say that a poor man has no right to relief, but it is right that he should have it. A rich man has a right to destroy the harvest of his fields, but to do so would not be right. See Fleming and Krauth, Dict. of Phil. Science, s.v.
