This contribution aims first of all to reflect on the current use of the notion of “subjective rights” and to argue about its coherence with the specific principles that it presupposes starting from its very genesis through the method of a historical reconstruction of the origin of this notion. This intellectual “archaeology” does not claim to provide definitive solutions regarding the current proper or improper use of this notion. Rather, it aims to identify the most urgent question to be addressed, which consists in asking whether there is only an expansion of the notion of “subjective rights” and, at most, a shift in sector, or, on the contrary, a real

re-semanticization. In this second case, it is necessary to question its coherence with the assumptions from which it originated and on which its very legitimacy depends.