RS: A2: Ethics: Justice& Punishment

Justice, rights and duties

An important principle of justice is the notion of rights and duties. We as ‘moral agents’ have certain duties (things they ought to do) and rights (things they ought to receive). MacQuarrie & Childress defined them as ‘... powers or privileges which are so justly claimed that they must not be infringed or suspended.’

In a democracy these rights and duties belong to each citizen- without them there can be no justice. Rights and duties are two sides of the same coin; i.e. a person has a duty to respect the rights of others and in turn can expect others to respect their rights.

Key reflection: give an example of such rights....

Ethicists have suggested five bases on which the concepts of rights and duties are established:

Divine right: rights given by God e.g. right to life. Natural rights: rights that come from human nature e.g. right to food and shelter. Contract: society agrees to limit the rights of citizens in order to ensure an ordered

society e.g. right to education and the duty to pay taxes to provide schools. Utilitarian: respecting the rights of others and having your own rights respected by

other people, e.g. the right not to be harmed and the duty not to harm others. Totalitarian: rights can be exercised as long as the state permits them, e.g. the right

to drink alcohol.

We can distinguish between political rights which are concerned with the relationship between the individual and government, and civil rights which are concerned with equal treatment for all in relation to the law, religious freedom, ownership of property, education and privacy.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) recognises that human rights:

Must be accepted and acted upon Are possessed by all human beings Are fundamental to all human life Must be enforced May serve to restrict the actions of others In some cases, cannot be forfeited