Natural Duty of Justice
Document Type
Encyclopedia Entry
Publication Date
2014
Editor(s)
Jon Mandle & David A. Reidy
ISBN
9781139026741
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Language
en-US
Abstract
In a theory of justice Rawls distinguishes “natural duties” from obligations: natural duties are incumbent upon each of us unconditionally, whereas obligations are voluntarily incurred. He also distinguishes natural duties from duties that are attached to institutional offices or other social positions. Natural duties are moral requirements. As the institutions and social positions to which institutional and social duties attach may be morally defensible or indefensible, they do not necessarily possess any moral force.
Recommended Citation
David B. Lyons,
Natural Duty of Justice
,
in
The Cambridge Rawls Lexicon
551
(Jon Mandle & David A. Reidy ed.,
2014).
Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139026741.143
