ed with first. When discussing the American conception of rights I tend to favor the view presented by Thomas Paine. He believed that the rights of one man are the duties of another. In possessing a right some one else is required to respect that right, therefore there can be no rights without duties. (Paine,165) In turn this would imply that we as people have a civil duty to respect the rights of others if we chose to posses those same rights our selves. Madison and Hamilton would, I believe, say that our rights were endowed by a creator, as would Paine. They would say that they exist and are protected not so much by duties to others, but by being guaranteed by a social contract. In this respect we would assure our rights by carrying out our civil responsibilities. This is accomplished by respecting and adhering to the law. Even Calhoun admits that in exercising a right that we have certain obligations and that they must be adhered to when exercising a right. (Calhoun,197) Summer said the best way to protect our society and the r
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