Inalienable rights

Human Rights, endowed Natural Rights, and legal rights and privileges of a citizen are not synonymous terms.

Are inalienable rights the same as unalienable rights?

Inalienable and unalienable are both adjectives. Unalienable was the most popular spelling choice. Eventually, inalienable began to replace it in the 1830s.

Inalienable means something that “can’t be transferred to someone else, taken away, or denied.” This right, as an item or principle isn’t alienable or “able to be sold.” For example: Americans consider freedom of speech an inalienable right. This is not a universally accepted principle although the preamble to the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that rights are inalienable: "recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world."

We can see a recorded of the word unalienable being used as early as 1610–20. It appears to originate from a combination of the prefix in- and alienable via the Middle French alienable.

Synonyms may include inviolable, absolute, unassailable, and inherent bit also constitutional, fundamental, and implicit..

Unalienable is also an adjective that can be defined as “not transferable to another or not capable of being taken away or denied; inalienable.” For example, there are certain rights that American citizens are considered born with and these are said to be unalienable.

Dictionary.com states that "Un- is a prefix that means “not” and gives a negative or opposite force. Although in- can mean “inclusion” (as in inland or indwelling), it can also be a synonym for un-, and is commonly used with nouns. Therefore, some words with the prefix in- can also mean a negative force, like inattention, inexpensive, or inorganic."

In discussion of social contract theory, "inalienable rights" were said to be those rights that could not be surrendered by citizens to the sovereign. Such rights were thought to be natural rights, independent of positive law. ... Any contract that tried to legally alienate such a right would be inherently invalid.

The final version of the Declaration of Independence declares: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

The difference between inalienable and unalienable is just historical context and popularity and therefore are interchangeable.

You may have an inalienable and unalienable right to freedom of speech but you cannot yell fire in a theater because of the likely consequences and especially if there is no fire. There are also defamation and liable to consider along with bearing false witness. You may have an inalienable right to speak but you also have the responsibility for what you say.

Other example: "Despite his son’s protests, this dad had to explain that his allowance wasn’t an inalienable [or unalienable] right and that he had to work for it."

Or: "After going over the will with countless lawyers, it became clear that the large sum of money left to her was unalienable [or inalienable] even as others tried to contest it."

Your inalienable and unalienable rights do not include taking away other peoples inalienable and unalienable right. It does not alienate the debts and obligations you may have incurred as a beneficiary or surety for debt.

We may all the facts and not merely those convenient to what we may want to believe. Any examination of rights or law depends upon the context of time in personal, generational, and national history. It also requires a keen understanding of words used in reference to the same contexts. The meaning of words and the status of individuals change over time and through their own actions, choices and those of others. Natural Law may remain the same, but legal systems do not remain the same, any more than our relationships to them.

Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are universal, fundamental and inalienable (they cannot be repealed by human laws, though one can forfeit their enjoyment through one's actions, such as by violating someone else's rights). Natural law is the law of natural rights.

Legal rights are those bestowed onto a person by a given legal system (they can be modified, repealed, and restrained by human laws).The concept of positive law is related to the concept of legal rights.

If you need help:

Or want to help others:

Inalienable rights

Navigation menu

Search