Right, Duty and Obligation/Responsibility: a Search for Ethical
1 RIGHT, DUTY AND OBLIGATION/RESPONSIBILITY: A SEARCH FOR ETHICAL
FUNDAMENTALS
By
Dr. Ani Casimir K.C
2
1) Introduction:
Immanuel Kant gave philosophy four fundamental questions with which it is to concern itself and they are:
(1) What can I know? ;
(2) What is man?;
(3) What can I hope for, and,
(4) Finally, what ought I to do.
The latter—‘what ought I to do?’ is the central subject of ethics,or what is variously called moral philosophy or philosophy of morality. With the concepts of ‗right‘, ‗duty‘ and obligation‘ and responsibility, we move into the science of ‗oughts‘ that define the moral foundation of human society and the stability of its social fabric. The Kantian challenge here is that before we can build a morally strong and ethically virile social order the citizens should know the fundamentals of ‗righteousness‘ or the values that build a right and moral citizenship who knows his rights, carries out his duties and compels the state, within the bounds of a good moral-legal order, to fulfil its obligations to the citizens. Before we can delve into the meaning of the terms-- right, duty, obligation,and its allied responsibility, let us carry out a brief survey of what is meant by ethics or science of morality. 2) Ethics – A Brief View:
A lot of people fail to appreciate the fact that back in antiquity, ethics did not constitute an independent study as such,but was part of a bigger course of study. For it was simply known in classical antiquity as the science of ‗worth’ or ‘value’ so that what was popular was the study of ‗axios’ and not ‗ethos‘. ‗Axios’ translates to a meaningful
3
expression ‗to be worthy‘ root word for axiology - a more popular science than ethos – the root word for ethics. Ethics meant ‗character or the custom‘ so that one can talk about individual character being good or bad and a society‘s custom could be worthy or not.
Axiology as the science that propels society and guides her as to what is valuable, worthy or
FUNDAMENTALS
By
Dr. Ani Casimir K.C
2
1) Introduction:
Immanuel Kant gave philosophy four fundamental questions with which it is to concern itself and they are:
(1) What can I know? ;
(2) What is man?;
(3) What can I hope for, and,
(4) Finally, what ought I to do.
The latter—‘what ought I to do?’ is the central subject of ethics,or what is variously called moral philosophy or philosophy of morality. With the concepts of ‗right‘, ‗duty‘ and obligation‘ and responsibility, we move into the science of ‗oughts‘ that define the moral foundation of human society and the stability of its social fabric. The Kantian challenge here is that before we can build a morally strong and ethically virile social order the citizens should know the fundamentals of ‗righteousness‘ or the values that build a right and moral citizenship who knows his rights, carries out his duties and compels the state, within the bounds of a good moral-legal order, to fulfil its obligations to the citizens. Before we can delve into the meaning of the terms-- right, duty, obligation,and its allied responsibility, let us carry out a brief survey of what is meant by ethics or science of morality. 2) Ethics – A Brief View:
A lot of people fail to appreciate the fact that back in antiquity, ethics did not constitute an independent study as such,but was part of a bigger course of study. For it was simply known in classical antiquity as the science of ‗worth’ or ‘value’ so that what was popular was the study of ‗axios’ and not ‗ethos‘. ‗Axios’ translates to a meaningful
3
expression ‗to be worthy‘ root word for axiology - a more popular science than ethos – the root word for ethics. Ethics meant ‗character or the custom‘ so that one can talk about individual character being good or bad and a society‘s custom could be worthy or not.
Axiology as the science that propels society and guides her as to what is valuable, worthy or