The Concept of Rights: Views of Bentham and Khoei

The main focus of this research is on the nature and origin of rights. Jeremy Bentham totally rejects the notion of extra-legal rights. For him, it is only legal rights that are valid and imply a benefit for its holders. Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei's believed that rights’ validity derives from the religious lawmaker. He authenticates rights for reasons which seem to be individuals’ interests. In this paper, it will be shown that Bentham and Khoei, at least on the formation basis of rights, have similar analysis of the concept of rights: they both consider rights as valid due to the lawmaker’s authentication to the benefits of individuals, legally sanctioned in the form of duties. Accordingly, it shall be emphasized that the mentioned writers think along similar lines on the relationship between rights and law. Nevertheless, differences and also consequences of these two analytical theories of rights are too serious to be overshadowed by their mentioned similarity.