Unit 8 The Theory of Duty and Rights

[](assets/u8/Picture1.png “Sign with arrows pointing to the”right way” and “wrong way”)

Image by Tumisu on Pixabay

Consider if the following are right or wrong:

  • Do the ends justify the means to get there?
  • Do the means justify the end result?

Overview

In Unit 8 kicks off a 3-Unit study on Ethical Theories of Duty and Rights, Consequentialism, and Cultural Relativism and the impact the theories have on decision making. These theories seek to uncover what is morally right and wrong

Of the three theories, the theory of Duty is the most straight forward. The premise is this: if it is right, do it. If it is wrong, don’t do it.

The advantage of the duty theory is, in fact, that it is straight-forward in its’ standard just to do the right thing. The disadvantage is, however, what do we do when the duties conflict? We will explore these conflicts in more detail in Topic 3.

The following is an example of decision making using the duty theory.

John was standing in line at the pharmacy. The customer ahead of him left a medication on the counter after paying for it. It happened to be an expensive medicine that his Mother needed for a life-threatening illness, but she could not afford to buy it. Should he take the medicine and leave the pharmacy, or leave the medication and notify the pharmacist?

“if it is right, do it. If it is wrong, don’t do it.” When using the duty theory, honesty is required at all times. To do the right thing, John will notify the pharmacist of the forgotten medication.

This is an example taken from the Theory of Duty and Rights - The Business Ethics Workshop, James Brusseau.

The German philosopher, Immanuel Kant (1724 – 1804) said that before you determine what to do, you must determine what is right - and then make your decision. This theory may also be called Deontology.

As an introduction to the Deontology duty theory, watch this 3-minute video: plugin:youtube

Where did duties come from? As God created the earth and man, He also gave standard of what is right and wrong and they became the duties by which we should live. These can be further described in two ways.

Origin of the Duty Theory, #1:

In the beginning of the world, after God created the earth, heavens, animal, fish, and all of the land, He then created Adam and Eve, the first people on the earth and God told them of their duty

“And God said to them, ’Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

Nature and the universe and physics define our duties. It is our duty to respect them, care for them, and recognize their impact on our own lives and welfare.

Origin of the Duty Theory, #2:

It was God who also gave us our next duty. He gave us the 10 Commandments to live by as found in the Bible in Exodus 20. They describe how humanity must interact and our society today continues to hold these as duties we should live by with each other. In a later activity, you will be asked to find Exodus 20 and the list of the 10 Commandments.

Humanity has a duty to respect one another to promote a peaceful and prosperous society.

In Unit 8 we will look at what the duty ethic is and discuss how the duty ethic is applied to decision making. As well, we will look at the characteristics rights and the duty we have to respect and protect the rights of ourselves and others.

Topics

This unit is divided into the following topics:

  1. Does the means justify the ends or the ends justify the means?
  2. Discover the Perennial Duties
  3. The characteristics of duty and rights
  4. Duties and rights in conflict

Learning Outcomes

When you have completed this unit, you should be able to:

  • Define how the means justified the ends
  • Examine duty to self and duty to others
  • Describe the difference between duty and rights
  • Understand how duty and rights can be in conflict

Activity Checklist

Here is a checklist of learning activities you will benefit from in completing this unit. You may find it useful for planning your work.

  • Assessment: Discussion Forum 4

8.1 Does the means justify the ends?

Let’s briefly look at this question: Does the means justify the ends? or Does the ends justify the means?

The means focuses on doing things the right way, without regard for the consequences or end result.

The duty theory supports the first question, that the means will always justify the end. The duty theory determines that the moral responsibility is to do the right thing (the means), even if the final result is not what you had hoped (ends). The duty theory focus on the right actions rather than the desired consequences. In contrast, Unit 9 will present Consequentialism which focuses on the consequences (ends) as more important than the action (means).

The following are some examples or the duty theory:

  • I will drive the speed limit, even if it the end is that I will not arrive to work on time.
  • I will say thank-you for the gift, even if it was not what I had hoped for.
  • I will buy clothes for my kids, even if I will not have enough money to buy my clothes.

Duty based ethics is a concept in moral philosophy, the study of human values we use for deciding rights and wrongs and the choices people make in pursuing – or ignoring – these values. Duty theory holds that a person should adhere strictly to a set of moral rules that establish their personal value of what is right and what is wrong. Duty based ethics can be summarized succinctly as Do the right thing, along with it’s converse, Don’t do the wrong thing

Source: CHRON - Small Business

Learning Activities

Activity 8.1: Read & Reflect

  • 📘: Read Business Ethics Workshop, James Brusseau, Flat World Knowledge, LLC

Note that the Learning Activities are ungraded, unless otherwise specified. They are designed to help you succeed in your assessments in this course, so you are strongly encouraged to complete them.

Activity 8.2: 10 Commandments

  • 📘: Read the Bible in the book of Exodus chapter 20 verses 1 – 17.
  • ✏️: Write down a list of the 10 commandments.
  • 🧑🏽‍🤝‍🧑🏻 : With your Group, discuss if these are still relevant as our duties today. Why or why not?

Activity 8.3: Deontology

🎞️ Watch: What is Deontology? (Duty Ethics)

8.2 Perennial Duties

Throughout history, duties have been the foundation for society to thrive. They become the requirements that determine our actions. Typical types of duties are do not lie and do not steal. We also have a duty to parents, country, and obligations to meet our responsibilities.

Perennial duties are duties that will continue always regardless of the situation. There are two types of perennial duties.

  • Duty to Self
  • Duty to Others

Duty to Self

  • Develop your talents and be the best you can be. If you have a talent to teach, your moral responsibility is to be a teacher.
  • Do yourself no harm. You are morally obligated to take care of yourself. Avoid putting yourself in danger or inflicting self-harm.

Duty to Others

  • “Do unto others as you would have them do to you” The Bible, Matthew 7:12. This sums up the Duty to Others in that we have a moral responsibility to treat others in the same way we want to be treated.
  • Referring back to the 10 Commandments, we have a moral obligation, then, to treat people with honesty, beneficence, gratitude, respect, fidelity, and reparation. In our next activity we will examine just what each of these terms mean.

Duty of beneficence

  • This is a duty to promote the welfare of others as far as is possible or reasonable.
  • As example: It is your duty to help and support a person who is addicted to alcohol. The duty ends when need is greater than your abilities to help, of the person refuses your beneficent actions.

Veil of ignorance

  • This is a duty based on the idea that when you set up rules for resolving dilemmas, you do not get to know before hand which side of the rules will fall on your side.
  • An example: In deciding who should be the ruling official, your town decides to take a vote. Your duty is to agree to the resolution, regardless of who is the winner of the vote.

Categorical Imperative: Immanuel Kant

  • Kant further defined duty in the Consistency Principle. He said that duty extends beyond circumstances, and that, no matter what, we need to treat people as an end-not as a means.
  • As an example: Jane wants to get a job at Sam’s brothers’ company but cannot get an interview. Jane becomes friends with Sam so that he will introduce her to Sam’s brother. Jane is using Sam to get what she wants.

Aristotle: Fairness

  • Aristotle further defines duty by saying that people should be treated with fairness and with equality. This is not to say that everyone in the world should be treated the same, but that everyone within a group should be treated fairly.
  • As an example of Fairness: Everyone in the company gets a raise.
    • The 10 year employees: 10%
    • The 5 year employees: 5%
    • The 1 year employees: 1%
  • An example of unfairness: Everyone in the company gets a raise according to the “raise schedule” expect for the cute girl who was hired last week – she gets a 10% raise.

Learning Activities

Activity 8.4: Flashcards- Exploring concepts: Perennial duties, categorical imperative, and fairness

Activity 8.5: Case Study

With your Group, discuss the 6 questions below the article. The answers are to be based on the duty ethic. Separate out your personal preferences or biases and use only the duty theory to include the perennial duties, categorical imperative, and fairness.

Divide into 2 – 3 groups.

  • Divide the questions between each group.
  • Work with your group for 10 minutes to answer the questions.
  • One person from each group will share their findings with the members of the Group.

Questions to Consider

After completing the activities above, consider the following questions:

  • Are you clear of the differences between these questions? Does the ends justify the means? Does the means justify the ends?
  • Is it realistic to live your life following the duty ethic?

8.3 The Characteristics of Rights

Image by Giammarco on Unsplash

While duty has to do how you will treat others, rights is about how I can expect other people to treat me. In other words, I have a duty to treat others honesty, beneficence, and respect, and I have the right for others to have others treat me with honesty, beneficence, and respect.

We have the right to be treated fairly and ethically, and others have the right to be treated fairly and ethically. Re-read the 10 Commandments and notice how they actually include both our duty AND our rights towards ourselves and others.

English Philosopher John Locke describes rights by using three characteristics:

  1. Universal - The fundamental rights don’t transform as you move from place to place or change with the years.
  2. Equal - They’re the same for all, men and women, your and old.
  3. Inalienable - They can’t be taken, they can’t be sold, and they can’t be given away.

The following are a few examples of Rights-Based Ethics:

  • The right to life
  • The right to liberty
  • The right to pursue happiness
  • The right to freely practice a religion of choice
  • The right to express ideas or opinions with freedom as an individual
  • The right to work
  • The right to marry
  • The right to bear children
  • The right to be treated as equal to others

8.4 Duty and Rights in Conflict

As stated in earlier in the unit, the duty theory is straightforward – just do the right thing. But what happens if…

Duty in conflict with Duty

  • I am a recent university graduate with an MBA. My parents want me to move to Toronto to take over my family business. However, my fiancé wants to return to her hometown in Mexico City. I have a duty to both. Both options seem like the right thing to do.

Duty in conflict with Rights

  • Listen to this video about the duty of a floral designer who had the duty to herself and God not to do the floral arrangement for a gay couple, and the gay couple had the right to expect equal service.

Watch: Meet Barronelle Stutzman | ADF Case Story

Cultural Rights vs Personal Rights

Learning Activities

Activity 8.6: Reflection and Sharing

Identify examples of a conflict between:

  • Cultural rights and personal rights
  • Cultural duty and personal duty

8.4.1 Activity 8.7: TED Talk

Watch the following video which discusses the importance of ethical decision making in the age of technology

Questions to Consider

  • How does a person resolve a conflict between personal rights and personal duty?
  • What is an example in history where major change has evolved because of conflict between duty and rights?
  • Describe a situation where you have been caught in the middle of a duty and a right.

Unit 8 Summary

In this unit, you have had the opportunity to learn about the duty ethic and how it applies to decision making. It is an ethic that has a clear focus: choose to do what is right no matter what the end result turns out to be.

Assessment

Forum Post

Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt. 7:12).

This is a truth that your Mother may have taught you as a child; likely you follow the same truth today. In the Bible, there is a section often called The Beatitudes. Read them in Matthew 5:1 – 10 as found in your Bible or in the following link:

💻: Bible Hub

As you read this, notice there are picture of duty, and rights we may expect to receive ourselves or expected to give to others.

In this forum, write about one of the beatitudes that stands out to you as a duty that is critical to the well-being of a nation or a relationship, and a right we can anticipate in fulfilling the duty.

  • What is it?
  • What does it mean?
  • How can it be practiced?

See the FORUM tab for further details

Checking your Learning

Before you move on to the next unit, you may want to check to make sure that you are able to:

  • Define how the means justified the ends
  • Examine duty to self and examine duty to others
  • Describe the difference between duty and rights
  • Identify incidents where Jesus practiced a duty ethic with people around him