Human Dignity and Bioethics

398 | David Gelernter
formally; having a right means that your will is favored over someone
else’s. Rights-morality centers on what is coming to you. Dutymorality
centers on what is required of you.
The Declaration of Independence says that “We hold these truths
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed
by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure
these rights, Governments are instituted among Men….”
It could also have said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Duties, that among these are safeguarding
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to make sure of
these duties, Governments are instituted among Men….”
What’s the difference? Jefferson’s version is famous for eloquence,
and only a lunatic would suggest that it ought to have been written
differently. But this is a thought-experiment, not a proposed
rewrite.
Jefferson’s is easier to understand—though of course we are considerably
more familiar with it.
But when we speak of rights, we tend to speak of the individuals
immediately concerned on the one hand, and the vast vague public on
the other. To achieve, on the other hand, the effect of granting a right
by using the mechanism of duty, it’s natural to impose specific duties
on the whole public—you have a right to life and liberty versus a duty
to safeguard life and liberty. In the first case, we award a right without
saying how we will deliver it; “the government will take care of
things” is a bad idea to propose to the citizenry, and over the generations
(although mainly in the 20th century) we have seen the United
States government grow bigger and more powerful, and its citizens
more passive, while “rights” have proliferated. There are many causes.
But the morality of rights must be one.
In the second version, we have imposed a specific duty on every
citizen. (You have a duty to safeguard your fellow citizen’s life, liberty,
and pursuit of happiness.) Even the dutiful citizen will have a hard
time carrying out these duties without the government’s doing most
of the work. But at least the government and the citizen pull in the
same direction. Instead of one being the passive recipient and the other
an all-powerful Fairy Godmother, the citizen and his government