ABSTRACT
The second of the three major approaches to ethics that we consider in this book is that of rights and duties. This title refers to several somewhat different ethical views, and the works of many philosophers can be included under this title. Broadly speaking, the rights and duties approach focuses on doing things that are right in themselves, rather than right because of their consequences. This approach says that the moral act is the act which recognizes the rights of others and the duties that those rights impose on the actor. Americans are perhaps the most rights-oriented people in history. We speak of having a right to free speech, a right to public education, a right to our place in line and a right to health care. We often do not give much thought to these rights, but simply proclaim them. A right is worthless if no one has a corresponding duty. My right to free speech imposes a duty not to censor my comments or writings. My right to privacy imposes a duty on others to leave me alone. If I have a right to health care, someone or some organization must have a duty to provide it, or else my right is worthless. It is a commonplace of contemporary culture in many countries that people are far more conscious of and insistent on their rights than they are on their duties.
