A Right to Clean Air?

Imagine that five people in your neighbourhood urgently need organ transplants. Without the transplants they may die. Just one healthy body would supply all the necessary parts: heart, lungs, liver and two kidneys. They nominate you to be their donor. Fortunately for you, your right to life does not depend upon an assessment of costs and benefits, and no official is empowered to sacrifice you for the greater good. Your life will be spared not because it is more valuable than the five you would save, but because you have a right not to be killed.

Conceptually, rights are pretty simple. They provide the ability to prevent others from intruding upon you. The right to bodily integrity prohibits people from touching without permission. Property rights provide the ability to exclude others from your stuff. Rights are not absolute, but limited by the rights of others. The freedom of expression allows the distribution of unpopular opinions, but not the right to defame. Even...