Right and Wrong

by Charles Fried

Overview

Some acts are wrong, even if they have good results, and some are right even if the world would have been a better place without them. Here is a cogent and lucid argument for a system of morality that makes place for that which is right or wrong in itself and not just according to consequences. Charles Fried develops in this book a conception of right and wrong that supports judgments on subjects as various as tax structure, self-defense, kidney transplants, tort liability, and freedom of speech.

Fried begins by examining the demands of morality in two quite different cases: harming the innocent (where ordinary moral consciousness suggests absolutes) and lying (where consequences seem pertinent). Upon this foundation he elaborates a theory of rights that accounts for the obligation to contribute to the welfare of others but accounts also for the limits of that obligation. Comparisons and contrasts are drawn to economic theories of rights, and to the writings of Dworkin, Nozick, and Rawls. Finally, Fried considers how choices made within personal and professional roles—by friends and kin, by doctors and lawyers—are susceptible of moral judgment.

Right and Wrong will have an impact on ethical, legal, and social theory, and will profit anyone thinking about the requirements of a moral life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674332492
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/03/2014
Edition description:	Reprint 2014 ed.
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Charles Fried is Beneficial Professor of Law, Harvard University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

I. WRONGS

1. Elements

Right and Wrong

Right and Wrong as Absolute

The Complexity of Deontological Systems

Causation and Negative Duties

Intention: The Person as Agent and Object

Respect for Persons

2. Harm

Directness and Particularity

From Directness to Intention

Completing the Structure: Defense

3. On Lying

Lying Defined

The Evil of Lying

Justified Lies

II. RIGHTS

4. Rights-The Economic Analysis

Rights

The Economic Analysis of Rights

Bargaining and Moral Foundations

Conclusion

A Note on Compensation

5. Positive Rights

Positive and Negative Rights

The Sources of Positive Rights

Needs and Wants

The System of Positive Rights

The Duty of Beneficence

Conclusion and Prospects

6. Negative Rights

Negative Rights and Fair Shares

Negative Rights and Fair Contributions

Family Rights: A Complex Case

Unintended Invasions: A Complication

Conclusion: The System of Positive and Negative Rights

III. ROLES

7. Rights and Roles

Virtue and Roles

Professional Roles: The Problem

The Analogy to Friendship

Bureaucrats and Friends

Doing Harm in a Justifiable Role

Conclusion

Notes

Index

Editorial Reviews

Charles Fried of the Harvard Law School has made an important contribution to the literature of ethics . 'On all great subjects much remains to be said,' wrote John Stuart Mill. Professor Fried has said it with great elegance.

Fried's approach is indeed an important corrective to utilitarian calculations that are often all too ready to sacrifice individuals... on the altar of the greatest good... [This is] a well-written and provocative volume, containing discussions of many important issues.

The most outstanding feature of this book is the lucid account it presents of the workings of ordinary morality with regard to what the individual and the state may, may not, and must do.

From the Publisher

Charles Fried of the Harvard Law School has made an important contribution to the literature of ethics. 'On all great subjects much remains to be said,' wrote John Stuart Mill. Professor Fried has said it with great elegance.

Boston Globe

Fried's approach is indeed an important corrective to utilitarian calculations that are often all too ready to sacrifice individuals... on the altar of the greatest good... [This is] a well-written and provocative volume, containing discussions of many important issues.

The New Leader

The most outstanding feature of this book is the lucid account it presents of the workings of ordinary morality with regard to what the individual and the state may, may not, and must do.

Philosophical Books