Rights and Justice
Definition
Rights
Rights are entitlements or freedoms that individuals or groups possess, often protected by law or moral principles.
Definition
Justice
Justice refers to the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and punishments within a society.
Theoretical Perspectives
Liberalism
- Focus: Individual rights and freedoms
- Key Thinkers: John Locke, John Rawls
- Principles:
- Natural Rights: Life, liberty, and property (Locke)
- Justice as Fairness: Equal basic rights and opportunities (Rawls)
- UDHR and Liberalism
- The UDHR reflects liberal values by prioritizing individual rights and limited government.
- Key rights include freedom of speech (Art. 19), religious freedom (Art. 18), and equality before the law (Art. 7).
- Promotes universal, inalienable rights, central to liberal thought.
Utilitarianism
- Focus: Maximizing overall happiness or utility
- Key Thinkers: Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill
- Principles:
- Rights are justified if they contribute to the greatest good for the greatest number.
- Justice is measured by outcomes, not intentions.
- Utilitarianism prioritizes actions that maximize overall happiness or utility, even if it means sacrificing individual rights.
- Highlights a key tension: collective welfare vs. individual liberty.
- Contrasts with liberalism, which sees certain rights as inviolable, regardless of outcomes.
- In a public health crisis, authorities may forcibly quarantine an individual to prevent disease spread, violating their freedom of movement to protect the greater good.
Marxism
- Focus: Class struggle and economic equality
- Key Thinkers: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
- Principles:
- Rights are seen as tools of the ruling class to maintain power.
- Justice requires the abolition of class structures and the redistribution of resources.
- Marxists argue capitalist systems prioritize property rights over economic and social equality.
- Claim rights under capitalism serve the elite, masking deep class inequality.
- True freedom, they argue, requires redistribution and economic justice.
- Example: In housing crises, enforcing landlords’ property rights can lead to evictions, denying the poor their right to shelter.
Feminism
- Focus: Gender equality and intersectionality
