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A universal ethic is an ethic that applies universally to humanity. It thus transcends culture and personal whim. The criteria for a universal ethic are that it is universal to humanity, it comprehensively applies to all acts, its content is non-arbitrary, and it is logically consistent. Ethical philosophers have examined “natural moral law” to discover or deduce a universal ethic. They have included John Locke, John Stuart Mill, and Ayn Rand. The formulation of the universal ethic by Fred E. Foldvary in The Soul of Liberty includes three rules:
- Acts which are welcomed benefits are good.
- Acts which coercively harm others are evil.
- All other acts are neutral.
Moral or natural rights are a correlative of an ethic. The universal ethic therefore determines natural rights. A moral right to do X means that the negation of that act is morally wrong. For example, the right to own property means that it is morally evil for others to forcibly take that property. The characteristics of the universal ethic depends upon the wishes of the group of people to whom it applies. To continue the previous example, if the accepted universal ethic states that the ownership of private property unjustly deprives others the right to use that property, then owning property is morally wrong.
A society has liberty when its mandates conform to and enforce the universal ethic accepted by its citizens.
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[edit] External links
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Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
| General Principles |
Article 1: Freedom, Egalitarianism, Dignity, and Brotherhood · Article 2: Universality of rights |
Civil and Political Rights.
Treaty: International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights |
Article 3: Right to life, liberty and security of person · Article 4: Freedom from slavery · Article 5: Freedom from torture and cruel, unusual punishment · Article 6: Right to personhood · Article 7: Equality before the law · Article 8: Right to effective remedy from the law · Article 9: Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention, and exile · Article 10: Right to fair trial · Article 11.1: Presumption of innocence · Article 11.2: Prohibition of retrospective law · Article 12: Right to Privacy · Article 13 Freedom of movement · Article 14: Right of asylum · Article 15: Right to a nationality · Article 16: Right to marriage and family life · Article 17: Right to property · Article 18: Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion · Article 19: Freedom of opinion and expression · Article 20.1: Freedom of assembly · Article 20.2: Freedom of association · Article 21.1: Right to participation in government · Article 21.2: Right of equal access to public office · Article 21.3: Right to universal suffrage |
Social, Cultural and Economic Rights.
Treaty: International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights |
Article 22: Right to social security · Article 23.1: Right to work · Article 23.2: Right to equal pay for equal work · Article 23.3: Right to just remuneration · Article 23.4: Right to join a trade union · Article 24: Right to rest & leisure · Article 25.1: Right to an adequate standard of living · Article 25.2: Right to special care and assistance for mothers and children · Article 26.1: Right to education · Article 26.2: Human rights education · Article 26.3: Right to choice of education · Article 27.1: Right to participate in culture · Article 27.2: Right to intellectual property |
| Context, limitations and duties |
Article 28: Social order · Article 29.1: Social responsibility · Article 29.2: Limitations of human rights · Article 29.3: The supremacy of the purposes and principles of the United Nations · Article 30: Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. |
| Human Rights Category · Human Rights Portal |
