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	<title>elisa freschiAdhikāra and rights &#8211; elisa freschi</title>
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	<link>https://elisafreschi.com</link>
	<description>These pages are a sort of virtual desktop of Elisa Freschi. You can find here my cv and some random thoughts on Sanskrit (and) Philosophy. All criticism welcome! Contributions are also welcome!</description>
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		<title>Adhikāra and rights</title>
		<link>https://elisafreschi.com/2024/05/08/adhikara-and-rights/</link>
		<comments>https://elisafreschi.com/2024/05/08/adhikara-and-rights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2024 23:03:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>elisa freschi</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[deontic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mīmāṃsā]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[adhikāra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kumārila Bhaṭṭa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maṇḍana Miśra]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prabhākara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Śabara]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[śakti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sāmarthya]]></category>
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				<description><![CDATA[As already observed, there is no straightforward equivalent to &#8220;rights&#8221; in Mīmāṃsā deontic (and this is normal and good, since the deontic townscape is not a given fact, but a human construct and is therefore differently articulated), but there are certainly functional equivalents covering parts of the semantic field of &#8220;rights&#8221;. One of them is [&#8230;]]]></description>
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<p>As already observed, there is no straightforward equivalent to &#8220;rights&#8221; in Mīmāṃsā deontic (and this is normal and good, since the deontic townscape is not a given fact, but a human construct and is therefore differently articulated), but there are certainly functional equivalents covering parts of the semantic field of &#8220;rights&#8221;.</p>



<p>One of them is <em>adhikāra</em>. Possible differences: </p>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li><em>adhikāra</em> is generally a vox media (you have the <em>adhikāra</em> to do X, which does not necessarily mean that X is a good thing), unlike &#8220;right&#8221; (where generally having the right to do X is a good thing).</li>



<li><em>adhikāra</em> might imply duty, whereas rights don&#8217;t (you may have the right to remain silent, and this does not imply that you ought to remain silent). For instance, for Prabhākara if you have the <em>adhikāra</em> to perform a given sacrifice, you also have the responsibility to carry it out. However, it is not so in Kumārila or Maṇḍana, where the additional obligation to perform fixed rituals descends from their fixedness (<em>nityatva</em>), not from the <em>adhikāra</em>, as proven by the fact that no such obligation follows in the case of elective rituals (<em>kāmya</em>). </li>



<li><em>adhikāra</em> is connected to ability (<em>sāmarthya</em>), whereas this does not apply to rights, which can instead <em>ground</em> the need of ability being ensured. For instance, if you have the right to go to school but cannot physically move, (in an ideal case) your government will provide you with the devices needed to let you attend school etc. By contrast, <em>adhikāra</em> <em>presuppose</em> ability, in the sense that unless there is ability to do X, there is no <em>adhikāra</em> to do it. Since <em>adhikāra </em>is a vox media, this might be a good thing after all. For instance, if you don&#8217;t have the <em>adhikāra </em>to do something difficult to get A, you will be allowed to do something easier instead. Please notice also that Śabara helpfully distinguishes the lack of an external (bahirbhūta) ability (sāmarthya), which is temporary and does not affect the adhikāra (for instance, you don&#8217;t lose your adhikāra if you temporarily run out of ghee or are too poor to perform a given sacrifice), and intrinsic (ātmavṛtti) ability (śakti), in the absence of which there is no adhikāra. Much to my disappointment, this distinction is not kept by later authors. </li>
</ol>
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