Questions tagged [rights]

60 questions
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Is it immoral to download music illegally?

I should first point out that the title is more to capture a common occurrence of the broader idea I want to address in this question. It is also somewhat incorrect in that—at least in the US—I'm not sure it's actually illegal to download music…
stoicfury
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Why should almost extinct animals be protected from going extinct?

The feeling that it's "sad" if a species dies out seems to be coming from an aesthetic point of view how the world should be. But is there a rationality behind it? The only rational reason I was able to come up with is that more variety gives more…
8
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2 answers

German philosophers on (french) revolution

I'm reading an essay written by the Italian philosopher Remo Bodei, where he examines the thoughts of some German philosopher on the french revolution and revolutions in general. According to him, Kant stated that citizens do not have the right to…
Nicol
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How to disprove "I'm entitled to my opinion"

Background There is an article in The Conversation that attempts to disprove the notion that people are "entitled to their opinions." That is, people have a right to believe whatever they wish. I think this article is interesting and worth a read.…
Daniel
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Should governments have the power to limit the citizen's rights during wartime?

Should the government be allowed to limit their citizens rights during wartime or other hard times that the country is going through? What if it was an apocalyptic event that everyone knew they would die? In what circumstances would the government…
Kyriazis
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How do you tell what are human rights?

Recently on Google's homepage there is a quote attributed to the Olympic Charter: The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit,…
user5441
6
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5 answers

Do future selves have duties to the current self?

I think there are clear cases in which my future selves have rights against me (or I have duties to my future selves). For example, my future selves have the right to enjoy a healthy life and thus I have the duty to abstain from drug abuse. I may…
HRSE
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How do feminist thinkers justify choice feminism?

Choice feminism (see here, here, and here) includes the idea that women can occupy traditional roles (housewife, stay at home mom, etc...) and still be regarded as feminists, as long as it's their own choice to do so and they aren't being forced…
Alexander S King
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Ownership of the commons

A recent article from The Guardian explores the ambitions of the Luxembourg government in developing commercial space activity in the country. This move was partly enfranchised in the law. As the article says: in July, the parliament passed its law…
luchonacho
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Should uncontacted peoples have a right to privacy?

I've been reading some of the wikis about the uncontacted peoples of the world and the often repeated attempts to establish contact with a a number of them even after being rebuffed (sometimes violently). Should these peoples have a right to…
coleopterist
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Can one find in the writings of Ayn Rand a definitive list of rights?

Is there to be found anywhere in the writings, lectures or interviews of Ayn Rand a precisely-formulated list of rights, with or without justifications or explanations? In other words, did she ever set forth an explicit list or suite of individual /…
4
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Is it my right to choose to violate the law?

Is it my right to choose not to follow the law, provided I accept to bear the consequences? Or should I be forced to follow it at all times? The point is not whether it's right to violate the law or not, it's about the right to choose not to follow…
FarO
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Violation of everyday rights or "whose right to what did I violate today?"

The idea of rights seems to be strongly, if not inextricably, connected to the idea of duties. As far as I remember in philosophy of law this is referred to as "reciprocity". If I must do something, then there must be somebody I owe that action to.…
iphigenie
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Practical differences between a 'duty' and a 'rights' based ethical framework

In this SEP entry, the author states that African Ethics are ethics ... ... of Duty, Not of Rights [...] A morality of duty is one that requires each individual to demonstrate concern for the interests of others. The ethical values of…
mart
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Who (else) dislikes rights?

I continually run across arguments where people fail to understand that morality is not always and automatically about rights per se, and particularly not necessarily about the intellectual equivalent of legal rights, which immediately create…
user9166
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