[lit-ideas] Re: "A right and an obligation"
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 7 Apr 2013 09:59:06 +0100 (BST)
________________________________
From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
> Can my legal right to vote be construed as a moral obligation to do so ?
This question contains a key distinction between 'right' and 'obligation' in
their legal and in their moral sense.
The claim that one has both a right and an obligation to vote makes sense where
it is being claimed, in effect, that one has both a legal right and a moral
obligation to vote. There is no contradiction between a 'right' and an
'obligation' where these terms are being used to denote, respectively, a legal
position and a moral position.
Whereas to claim one has both a legal right and a legal obligation to vote is
more problematic: for to say an act is required as a matter of legal obligation
seemingly implies there is no legal 'right' or legal 'power' not to comply with
the duty, and so where there is a legal obligation we may say that precludes
that obligation being a legal 'right', as a legal 'right' is not a legal
obligation but a power in respect of which we have a choice as to its exercise.
Donal
London
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