[Avodah] Rights in halakhah

[Rabbi Arie Folger]

RZS and RMB have been arguing about whether there is a difference
between a rights based and a duty based philosophy of law. Particular
attention was paid to the question whether there is a difference
between a right to life and a duty not to kill. Well, one difference
is whether one considers it  society's obligation (absent insurance
contracts) to provide for every conceivable means, including
experimental procedures and medication that may or may not be helpful,
in order to preserve life. In a duty based system, your duties are
defined, in a rights based system, you can keep on demanding "but I
have a right to live." Of course, conversely, abuse is possible in the
form of triage and denial of care, but I don't think that that should
be different between the two systems. Finally, another difference is
that rights can be given up, whereas with duties, that is harder.
Hence, in a rights based system, euthanasia would sooner be accepted
than in a duty based system.

The interesting thing is that while the difference re: euthanasia is
acknowledged, with Judaism and its offshoots being strongly opposed to
active euthanasia, despite the subjects acquiescence, while the rights
based secular systems are increasingly in favor, yet, regarding the
obligation to heal, the situation is reversed, with Judaism being
strongly in favor of greater efforts, while the secular systems are
moving away from that. I think that a crucial reason for this
difference is the gemara in IIRC Sanhedrin, which explains the duty to
heal as coming from the obligation to return lost objects. Hence,
another duty, not the duty not to kill, is operative in medical care,
as far as Judaism is concerned.

However, while the above differences may exist, I can see some holes
in the above reasoning, since halakha does not always mandate
extending life. Still, I believe the above reasoning to be generally
correct.
-- 
Arie Folger,
Recent blog posts on http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/
* Is the New Israel Fund Indirectly Responsible for the Goldstone
Blood Libel? (en & de)
* Is Mu’ammar Al-Qadhafi Jewish
* After the Tefillin Terror Scare
* Der schwierige Nachlass
* Was ist Bitachón (Zuversicht)?