Between Humaneness and Human Rights: A Jewish Perspective on Modern Bioethics

Abstract

At a first glance it seems that rights and duties are mutually dependent, or in the language of philosophers – “correlative”: if I have a duty to tell you the truth, you have the parallel right (against me) not to be told lies, and vice versa; if a doctor has a duty to treat people even if they do not have money, the poor have a right to be medically treated, and vice versa. But this correlativity is obviously not universal. For example, I may have a duty to procreate (as is the case in the very first commandment in Genesis 1: 28), although there is no parallel right of non-existent people to be born; or I may have a natural right to property, even if I live on a desert island with no one having a duty to avoid transgressing my holdings, let alone provide me with a piece of land. Furthermore, even if there is some correlation of rights and duties, the direction of dependence of the one upon the other demonstrates that rights and duties are not simply two sides of the same coin. Thus, the duty of the government not to restrict my expression is derived from my right to free speech (rather than the other way round, i.e. it is not the case that the right to freedom of speech is derived from the duty of governments not to intervene in speech); on the other hand, the right of individuals in the Lockean state of nature to punish those who violate the laws of nature derives from the duty of individuals to avoid violating these laws (rather than the other way round, i.e. it is not the case that the duty of individuals to stick to the laws of nature is derived from the right of others to punish them for doing so).