Constitution and Rights

Abstract

AbstractThe fact that some natural entity, x, has constitutive value does not entail that x ought, all things considered, to be protected. Nonetheless, in some cases such entities ought to be protected for precisely this reason. The point may be made in terms of rights. More precisely, when x has high constitutive value for Person A, the normative reasons for action that derive from its having that value may be appropriately expressed in the language of rights. One can say that x should be protected out of respect for A’s rights. In the book’s eleventh case study, Jumbo Valley, the relevant right is a right to religious freedom. In its twelfth and final one, Bauxite mining at Wane Kreek, it is a certain kind of property right.