Abstract

This chapter explores the logical structure of rights and the right of self-defence. Drawing on jurist Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld’s theory of rights, it argues that self-defence is a justification, a feature which explains why a normally prohibited act becomes either not impermissible or is a positive good. The justification of self-defence consists in a simple Hohfeldian liberty to commit homicide. The exceptional nature of the liberty together with its recurring and readily identifiable nature enables it to function as a genuine right within legal and moral normative systems.