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.”7 Philosopher T.M.Scanlon sug-gests that “what we owe to others” is determined, to a great degree, by66James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy (New York: McGraw Hill, 1993), p.76.7Louis Day, Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies, 2nd ed.7(Belmont:Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1997), p.29.TLFeBOOK34CHAPTER 2what they can justifiably expect of us.8 In other words, we must treat othersas they expect to be treated—a version of the Golden Rule.Obligations arise not only from general social relationships but also fromrelationships described by our roles and functions in life, including ourjobs.Thus, we are obligated explicitly and implicitly in our relationshipswith others we come in contact with through our daily work.In the view ofphilosopher Bernard Gert, duties are primarily connected with jobs, offices,positions, and the like.9 Duties are both voluntarily incurred and forced (asthe duty to obey the law).“Do your duty,” in the sense of natural obligation,is one of the key rules set down by Gert.However, he emphatically pointsout that doing your duty is not synonymous with simply doing what you arepaid to do.“One’s job involves duties only to the extent that the job doesnot require one to kill his innocent victim, though he may have been paid asizable sum to do that.One cannot have a duty to unjustifiably violate amoral rule.”10Moral philosopher William David Ross defined six areas he believed allhuman beings would recognize, in one form or another, as being morallybinding.11 He referred to these obligations as prima facie duties, in that theyshould be considered binding, all other factors being equal—in other words,if no other duty or complication interferes with the consideration of the ob-ligation in question.Ross believed that we would recognize these duties be-cause we are human beings, and as such we are inclined to live in socialstructures held together in part by obligation.Ross’s six categories of obli-gation are as follows:· Duties of fidelity—If you promise (explicitly or implicitly) to performsome act or to abstain from performing some act, then you are obliged toperform that act or to abstain from performing that act.For instance, mostrelationships, professional and personal, assume a duty to tell the truth, orat least not to lie.Duties of fidelity would also include remaining faithful tocontracts, explicit or implicit, and keeping promises.This category also in-cludes duties of reparation; that is, if you perform a wrong action with respect to another person, you are obliged to undo the wrong.· Duties of gratitude—If any person performs some service (favor) for you, then you have some obligation to the person who performed the favor.Thiswould apply both to relationships between friends and to relationships be-88T.M.Scanlon, What We Owe to Each Other (Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998), pp.360–361.9Bernard Gert, Morality: A n 9ew Justification of the Moral Rules (Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1966), p.154.10Gert, Morality, 10p.156.11William David Ross, 11The Right and the Good (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930).TLFeBOOKMORAL CLAIMANTS35tween employer and employee.For example, if your employer treats you inan exceptionally favorable manner, above that normally expected in an em-ployee–employer relationship, your obligation would deepen to honor youremployer’s wishes beyond the duty of fidelity.· Duties of justice—If any person merits a distribution of something (typically something that will result in pleasure, happiness, or satisfaction), andyou can bring that distribution about (or prevent an unmerited distribution),then you are obliged to distribute what is merited (or prevent/withhold whatis not merited).In practice, this can often mean giving greater considerationto the claims of those who deserve it rather than to those who demand it, re-gardless of their position or power.· Duties of beneficence—If you can make some person better with respectto their state of existence, then you are obliged to do so.An example of thiswould be corporate philanthropy or the pro bono work of professionals.In adecision-making situation, this duty may oblige you to act when nonaction ispreferred or recommended by others.· Duties of self-improvement—If you can make yourself better with respectto your state of existence, then you are obliged to do so.This can cover any-thing from preserving your own integrity to taking advantage of a favorablesituation for self-improvement.· Duties of noninjury—If you are in a position to avoid hurting someone,then you are obliged to do so.This contrasts with the duty of beneficence [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]