Right and Righteousness

2022-12-24 What are rights?

• That which complies with justice, law or reason.

  • We’re on the side of right in this contest.

• A legal, just or moral entitlement.

  • You have no right to go through my personal diary.

• In the first place, the word right in English means both “right, correctness” and “right.
  • I don’t think you seem to be able to divide the concept properly.
  • I wonder if the idea is that what is just is “right” and what is legal is “right”.

• The word “right” in Japanese does not include the meaning of “right. On the contrary, the word “right” contains the meaning of “power” (power), so “right” has the nuance of pushing one’s interests by force. Therefore, it is sometimes said, “It is a problem to insist only on rights. However, if we substitute “right” for “right” in this proposition, we can immediately see that it is an untenable proposition. There should be no problem in “insisting only on ‘right’”.

  • https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/secure/316971/1point-2.pdf
  • This is an interesting angle.
  • The character for “right” is used for power, actual power, authority, benefit, privilege, authority…etc.
• Incidentally, the same characters are used in Chinese (simplified characters)
• It’s possible that there’s a conceptual discrepancy between Europe and East Asia.

from /villagepump/rights-and-correctness.

• right and correctness

2024-05-11 The Japanese words “right” and “correctness” and the English words “right” and “correctness” certainly have interesting inter-linguistic differences.

The word “right” (kenri) generally refers to rights and interests guaranteed by law, and indicates personal freedom and authority. It is the English equivalent of “right,” which also means right or justice, or “what is right” or “what is proper.

On the other hand, “correctness” indicates the accuracy and validity of things, and can mean “the right state of affairs” or “justice. The English word “correctness” corresponds directly to this “correctness” and indicates a state in which facts and actions are accurate and free from error.

The English word “right” has both the meanings of “right” and “correctness,” so its interpretation depends on the context. In Japanese, on the other hand, each word has its own dedicated word and separate meanings. This is one example of how different languages perceive abstract concepts differently.

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