There is a now longstanding debate concerning the origin of the notion of subjective rights and their definition. Subjective rights as ‘possessive individualism’ should be distinguished from active and claim rights nonetheless objectively grounded. The latter gain ground in the Middle Ages in essential continuity with classical objectivist notions of justice as ‘right order’ that remained influential in practice into the 18th century. The former represents a serious rupture promoted largely in the first place by Franciscan theology well before early modernity. This model is dangerous because it seeks to evade the fundamental question of distribution and does not truly uphold personal dignity. Notions of ‘right order’ and distributive justice safeguard the values of the West, whereas foundational ‘human rights’ tend to erode them.