RIGHTS ETHICS (JOHN LOCKE – 1632-1704)

•    Everyone has inherent moral rights

•    Everyone has rights  that  arise  from  EXISTING    (i.e.    right to  Life,  maximum individual Liberty, and human Dignity are Fundamental Rights).

•   Other rights arise as a Consequence.

•    Duties arise because people have rights, not vice versa.

•    Any act that violates an individual’s moral rights is ethically unacceptable.

•    Rights ethics was highly individualistic.

•    Rights are primarily   entitlements that prevent other people from meddling in one’s life. These are referred to as Liberty Rights or Negative Rights that place duties on other people not to interfere with one’s life.

E.g. Individuals do not have rights to life because others have duties not to kill them. Instead, possessing the right to life is the reason why others ought not to kill them.

Drawbacks

•   How do we prioritize the rights of different individuals?

•   Rights ethics often promote the rights of individuals at the expense of large groups/society

A.I.Melden’s version of Rights Ethics

•  Human rights are intimately related to communities of people.

•  This version is known as POSITIVE WELFARE RIGHTS and is defined as rights to community benefits for living a minimally decent human life.