PHI 1102 Lecture 15: Duties to Help II
11 Jul 2016
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Moral ought to help =/= enforceable moral obligation by the state. Different levels of help: reparation, dire need, helping. If choice is to help one or to help many, we ought to help many, based on: general point of view, impartiality, probabilities, number of bene ciaries. In spite of the above, there are special obligations that take precedence: e. g to own children. In general, when there is good reason, interpersonally considered, to require the person in question to do or refrain from the act in question. Interpersonal consideration has the structure of a social contract: Duties to do things (positive duties) vs duties to refrain (negative duties) both distinct from dispositions to favour certain doings. Under social contract terms, duties need to be agreed on. Narveson: for this reason, positive duties are harder to come by. Narveson: contract approach applies to all morality, not just duties of justice.
