Moral Rights

The concept of moral rights is prominent in much ethical and political thought. This chapter argues that utilitarians can and should give an account of the existence of moral rights. It surveys existing utilitarian accounts of rights, before developing a novel indirect theory of them. According to this theory, rights are structures of reasons and abilities to change reasons. These reasons are pattern-based reasons to participate in beneficial patterns of behaviour and motivation. If we can explain moral rights in this way, we can explain one important kind of moral constraint, such as the constraint against torture, and we can also explain the distinction between acting wrongly and wronging someone. The chapter ends by discussing whether rights are, on this view, too contingent on facts.