Ronald Dworkin, Reverence for Life, and the Limits of State Power

Utilitas ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-64
Author(s):  
Eric Rakowski
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
State Power ◽  
Protective Role ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Religious Toleration ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Reverence For Life

Ronald Dworkin claims in Life's Dominion that our tradition of religious toleration shields decisions to abort a pregnancy and to end one's life with the assistance of others because they pivot on judgements about the value of human life that are essentially spiritual. He further maintains that the state may regulate these decisions to ensure that they honour appropriately life's sacred or intrinsic value. This article disputes the first of Dworkin's claims. Tolerating other people's religious practices does not entail acquiescing in conduct that is not religiously motivated but springs instead from normal moral judgements. This article also questions whether governments justifiably may protect entities or processes simply because some citizens deem them intrinsically valuable. If, despite these doubts, one concludes that the state may assume this protective role, I argue that it probably can enact tighter constraints on abortion and assisted suicide than Dworkin thinks permissible.

Rights, intrinsic values and the politics of abortion

Utilitas ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-229
Author(s):  
Linda Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
The State ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Abortion Debate ◽  
Intrinsic Values

In Life's Dominion Ronald Dworkin argues that disagreement over the morality ofabortion is about how best to respect the intrinsic value of human life, rather than about foetal rights as many people mistakenly suppose. Dworkin argues that the state should be neutral indebates about intrinsic value and thus it should be neutral in the abortion debate. Through a consideration of the notion of intrinsic value, it is argued in this article that Dworkin'sargument fails. On the interpretation of ‘intrinsic value’ which Dworkin seems to favour, it is shown to be implausible that such a notion accounts for different views about the value of human life. On an alternative interpretation of ‘intrinsic value’ it is argued that the state is not usually neutral on such matters, and thus there is no reason why it should be in the case of abortion.

KEY ASPECTS OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE AUTHORITIES IN THE WORLD AND TO THE MODERN SOVERUM UKRAINE: A JOINT AND PERSONALITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (11) ◽  
pp. 164-174
Author(s):  
Оlena Fedorіvna Caracasidi
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Human Life ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Public Power ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Key Aspects

The article deals with the fundamental, inherent in most of the countries of the world transformation of state power, its formation, functioning and division between the main branches as a result of the decentralization of such power, its subsidiarity. Attention is drawn to the specifics of state power, its func- tional features in the conditions of sovereignty of the states, their interconnec- tion. It is emphasized that the nature of the state power is connected with the nature of the political system of the state, with the form of government and many other aspects of a fundamental nature.It is analyzed that in the middle of national states the questions of legitima- cy, sovereignty of transparency of state power, its formation are acutely raised. Concerning the practical functioning of state power, a deeper study now needs a problem of separation of powers and the distribution of power. The use of this principle, which ensures the real subsidiarity of the authorities, the formation of more effective, responsible democratic relations between state power and civil society, is the first priority of the transformation of state power in the conditions of modern transformations of countries and societies. It is substantiated that the research of these problems will open up much wider opportunities for the provi- sion of state power not as a center authority, but also as a leading political structure but as a power of the people and the community. In the context of global democratization processes, such processes are crucial for a more humanistic and civilized arrangement of human life. It is noted that local self-government, as a specific form of public power, is also characterized by an expressive feature of a special subject of power (territorial community) as a set of large numbers of people; joint communal property; tax system, etc.

scholarly journals Comments on Wojciech Dzieduszycki’s Reflections on the State and Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 325
Author(s):  
Łukasz Szymański
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Human Life ◽  
State Power ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
The State ◽  
Evolutionary Conservatism ◽  
The Law ◽  
Concept Of Law

<p>Conservatives in Galicia during the Austro-Hungarian monarchy exerted an overwhelming influence on political and social life. Among the conservative groups and parties, there were the so-called Podolaks, to which Wojciech Dzieduszycki belonged, writer, politician and philosopher. He wrote about the genesis and concept of law, the functions of the state and the scope of state power. He spoke against the law that regulates all manifestations of human life, because social relations are also regulated by moral and religious norms. Dzieduszycki was critical of socialism and all excessive forms of state intervention because he was against excessive state power. Based on Dzieduszycki’s reflections on the state and law, it can be concluded that he was an advocate of evolutionary conservatism.</p>

scholarly journals Η εγγενής αξία της ανθρώπινης ζωής κατά τον Ronald Dworkin: ένα υπόδειγμα αναστοχαστικής ισορροπίας

Bioethica ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Φίλιππος Κ. Βασιλόγιαννης (Philippos C. Vassiloyannis)
Keyword(s):  
Reflective Equilibrium ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Ronald Dworkin

Ronald Dworkin, in his monograph Life’s Dominion, discusses the intrinsic value of human life following an exemplary method. However, according to the author’s opinion, the final reflective equilibrium of Dworkin’s argumentation is based on two latent Kantian ideas relating to: a) the distinction between conviction and persuasion, and b) the practical postulate that all citizens should live together under strict conditions of liberty and equality i.e., respecting mutually each other’s reasonable beliefs (and in the present case, their reasonable beliefs about abortions and euthanasia).

scholarly journals PRENATAL PERSONHOOD AND LIFE'S INTRINSIC VALUE: REAPPRAISING DWORKIN ON ABORTION

Legal Theory ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-152
Author(s):  
Kate Greasley
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
The Public ◽  
Abortion Debate

ABSTRACTWhat is at the heart of conflict over abortion? In his celebrated contribution to the topic, Ronald Dworkin argues that disputants in the abortion debate are in fact deeply mistaken about the true terms of their disagreement. Rather than turning on the perennial question of whether or not the fetus is a person, Dworkin claims that abortion argument is, at bottom, an argument about the intrinsic value of all human life and how it is best respected. More than twenty years after Dworkin put forward his novel thesis, this article reassesses his key claims about the crux of abortion argument, partly in light of subsequent developments in the public abortion conflict. Against Dworkin's revisionist account of the abortion problem, I set out to show that his arguments do not successfully displace the primacy of the personhood question in moral and legal constitutional reasoning about abortion. Nor do they convincingly establish that prenatal personhood is not what contestants in the abortion debate are really arguing about.

KEY ASPECTS OF TRANSFORMATION OF THE STATE AUTHORITIES IN THE WORLD AND TO THE MODERN SOVERUM UKRAINE: A JOINT AND PERSONALITY

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
pp. 164-174
Author(s):  
Оlena Fedorіvna Caracasidi
Keyword(s):  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Human Life ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
The People ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Key Aspects

The article deals with the fundamental, inherent in most of the countries of the world transformation of state power, its formation, functioning and division between the main branches as a result of the decentralization of such power, its subsidiarity. Attention is drawn to the specifics of state power, its functional features in the conditions of sovereignty of the states, their interconnection. It is emphasized that the nature of the state power is connected with the nature of the political system of the state, with the form of government and many other aspects of a fundamental nature. It is analyzed that in the middle of national states the questions of legitimacy, sovereignty of transparency of state power, its formation are acutely raised. Concerning the practical functioning of state power, a deeper study now needs a problem of separation of powers and the distribution of power. The use of this principle, which ensures the real subsidiarity of the authorities, the formation of more effective, responsible democratic relations between state power and civil society, is the first priority of the transformation of state power in the conditions of modern transformations of countries and societies. It is substantiated that the research of these problems will open up much wider opportunities for the provision of state power not as a center authority, but also as a leading political structure but as a power of the people and the community. In the context of global democratization processes, such processes are crucial for a more humanistic and civilized arrangement of human life. It is noted that local self-government, as a specific form of public power, is also characterized by an expressive feature of a special subject of power (territorial community) as a set of large numbers of people; joint communal property; tax system, etc.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT PEOPLE’S RIGHTS OVER THE CLEAN WATER

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Muhammad Nadzir
Keyword(s):  
Water Management ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Clean Water ◽  
State Control ◽  
Government Responsibility ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Government

Water plays a very important role in supporting human life and other living beings as goods that meet public needs. Water is one of the declared goods controlled by the state as mentioned in the constitution of the republic of Indonesia. The state control over water indicated that water management can bring justice and prosperity for all Indonesian people. However, in fact, water currently becomes a product commercialized by individuals and corporations. It raised a question on how the government responsibility to protect the people's right to clean water. This study found that in normative context, the government had been responsible in protecting the people’s right over the clean water. However, in practical context, it found that the government had not fully protected people's right over clean water. The government still interpreted the state control over water in the form of creating policies, establishing a set of regulations, conducting management, and also supervision.

РОЛЬ ГОСУДАРСТВА В ПРЕОДОЛЕНИИ КРИЗИСА ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ ИДЕНТИЧНОСТИ: НОРМАТИВНО-ПРАВОВОЙ АСПЕКТ

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
O. D. Safonova
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Human Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Theoretical Problem ◽  
Mutual Aid ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Expert Community

Recognizing the existence of a crisis of civil identity, Russian state proclaims patriotic values an integral part of Russian state policy in documents of strategic importance. The need to educate citizenship and patriotism has ceased to be only a theoretical problem, and has found its embodiment in a large number of federal and regional programs. In comparison with the previous decades, the role and importance of civic identity and civic competence in modern Russia are becoming much more important. The civil competence of the student is formed by education-pedagogically organized purposeful process of development of the student as a person, a citizen, the development and adoption of values, moral attitudes and moral norms of societies. National security strategy of the Russian Federation (2015) relates to Russia's traditional spiritual and moral values: the priority of the spiritual over the material, protecting human life, rights and freedoms of the individual, family, creative work, service to the Fatherland, the norms of morality, humanity, mercy, justice, mutual aid, collectivism, historical unity of the peoples of Russia, the continuity of the history of our country. The formation of the civil identity of the young Russian personality forms with the help of Federal state educational standards of primary General, basic General and secondary General education, so the state policy in overcoming the crisis of civil identity devotes a large number of documents and programs to the field of education. The article attempts to trace how through normative and legal acts the state consistently tries to overcome the crisis of civil identity, identified by the scientific and expert community. Following the authors of state programs and the expert community studying the problems of identity crisis, it is noted in the article that the formation of civil identity is one of the most important conditions for the successful development of the country.

Interaction of the State and Business on Indicators of Values and Innovations of Public Health

2019 ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
V.A. Morozov
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Medical Institutions ◽  
Business Structures

The article analyzes the state of public health on the example of domestic and foreign statistics, as well as prospects for its development and improvement. The state of relations and forms of interaction of budgetary medical institutions (state, municipal) with private clinics, as well as directly private clinics with the structures of municipal and state power are considered. The directions and ways of interaction of power and business structures for improvement of methods and forms of service of patients on the basis of indicators of values and innovations are offered.

Suffering Spectators of Development

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjun Chowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Central Government ◽  
State Capacity ◽  
State Power ◽  
The State ◽  
Colonial Period ◽  
Alternative View

This chapter offers an alternative view of the incidence and duration of insurgencies in the postcolonial world. Insurgencies and civil wars are seen as the primary symptom of state weakness, the inability of the central government to monopolize violence. Challenging extant explanations that identify poverty and low state capacity as the cause of insurgencies, the chapter shows that colonial insurgencies, also occurring in the context of poverty and state weakness, were shorter and ended in regime victories, while contemporary insurgencies are longer and states are less successful at subduing them. The reason for this is the development of exclusive identities—based on ethnicity, religion, tribe—in the colonial period. These identities serve as bases for mobilization to challenge state power and demand services from the state. Either way, such mobilization means that popular demands for services exceed the willingness to disarm and/or pay taxes, that is, to supply the state.

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