What duties do you owe to the people closest to you, such as family, friends, and neighbors?
Is caring for people a moral option or a duty? What can happen when people ignore the requirement to manage their desires for both their own good and the good of society, which are interdependent? Most people may think our nature is to satisfy our own desires.
So, based on this, a social contract between the people and government in which caring is left as a choice and we should be fair and kind to others only because it helps us with our own interests. Moreover, we decide the amount and kind of care we give and become good people by how well we live up to the duty(Humphreys, 2014).
However, there are other opinions on this. We are naturally social creatures from the existence of family, friends, and society. Caring is a natural human emotion and we need and benefit from care throughout our lives, from parents, family, friends, and the State. Therefore, caring shouldn’t be depersonalized since it’s a natural human impulse and interaction that has to be nuanced to an individual’s needs and personality. It includes being sensitive and responsive to often complex feelings.
Every devil was once an angel. Acting with courage is midway between the excess of recklessness and the deficiency of timidity. I think the key factors of the duty are balance, fairness, reciprocity, and nature. To balance before making a rational choice to act according to the midpoint between excess and deficiency of desires and feelings. To be fair while we take risks while ignoring the need to act with prudence and consideration for the well-being of others. We must have the solutions to prisoner’s dilemmas to overcome individual incentives in favor of the common good.
When the rivers are all dried up, and the trees are all cut down, people will realize that they will not be able to EAT money. I think such a duty is also an example of The prisoner's dilemma, an inconsistency in decision analysis in which two individuals acting in their own self-interests do not produce the optimal outcome, even though the highest reward for each party occurs when both parties choose to co-operate.
Suppose there are two criminals, Tom and Jerry are being interrogated in separate rooms. The authorities are trying to convince at least one of the suspects to betray the other accomplice and testify to the crime. Do you think they are likely to cooperate with his accomplice and remain silent? Or, to defect from the gang and testify for the prosecution? What would you do if you don't know whether your ally will betray you or not?
Finally, to rethink the duty, I think there is a part of it in our inherent nature, and also a part of it is our own free choices. That's why we always have many wrongdoers and also many good guys. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice.
What duties do you owe to people in general, any time and any place?
Although we can not choose when or how we came to this world, the only truth is we are already here and rely on it. We cannot undo the past, the only thing we can do is move forward. I think don't burn the world down is the top priority and also the inherent duty. Sometimes, I think the world does not owe to us or anyone. So, we cannot take everything for granted. But, we all have the choice to start a good circulation. Treating others with a certain level of respect is a great start.
Reference
Humphreys, J. (2014, June 13). Have you a moral duty to care for others? The Irish Times. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/have-you-a-moral-duty-to-care-for-others-1.1830257.
Lau, T. & Johnson, L. (2011). The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business (Vol. 1). Flat World Knowledge.
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