Title of the Book:

Contemporary Moral Problems seventh edition by James E. White

Book Review Chapter:

Joel Feinberg: The Nature and Value of Rights

Quote:
“A World very much like our own expect that no one, or hardly any one(the qualification
is not important), has rights.” PAGE 64

What I expect to learn:

• The rights of nature and its value
• The morality of nature
• The morality of the value of nature

Review:
In this book Joel Feinberg demonstrate that rights are important. He imagines a world
that has no rights. In a result that world cannot make moral claim when the people are
treated justly, that they cannot claim a just treatment. And the result is that the people
deprived of self-respect and human dignity. PAGE 64. Joel Feinberg also discusses that
he tries to change the world of Nowherseville more appealing to Immanuel Kant. That if t
he brings the idea of duties in Nowherseville are their rights smuggled along with them.
Joel answer the question by saying that all duties entail other people’s rights and all rights
entail other people’s duties. This only means that duties are interconnected to rights so
these means that duties cannot enter Nowherseville.

What I learned:
I’ve learned that moral it is important in this world because without moral our world
cannot be balanced.

Integrative Questions:
• What kind of world is Nowherseville?
• Is moral important?

Review Questions:
1. Describe Nowheresville. How this world different from our world?
• Nowheresville a world that has no rights.
• Our world is different because every one of us in this world has its own rights.

2. Explain the doctrine of the logical correlativity of rights and duties. What is Feinberg’s
position on this doctrine?
• Joel Feinberg says that all
duties entail other people’s rights and all rights
entail other people’s duties.
 3. How does Feinberg explain the concept of personal desert? How would personal desert
work in Nowheresville?
• Joel Feinberg explains the concept of personal desert by saying that is one of the
people has the right to deserve something good from people.
• In Nowheresville the concept of personal desert does not work because is you do
some thing good, then you cannot be rewarded because in Nowheresville there is no
rights.

4. Explain the notion of a sovereign right monopoly. How would this work in Nowheresville
according to Feinberg?
• The notion of a sovereign right monopoly is that there is a re right to treat others well,
but this duty is not according to subject but according to God.
• According to Joel Feinberg if this sovereign right monopoly is introduce to
Nowheresville is will not also work because the sovereign right monopoly covers all
rights of people.

5. What are claim rights? Why does Feinberg think they are morally important?
• According to Joel Feinberg right is a kind of claim and claim is an assertion of rights.
• Joel Feinberg thinks that they are morally important because by doing so each
people have the right to stand up as men and women to be equal.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does Feinberg make a convincing case for the importance of rights? Why or why not?
• Yes because if our world has no rights people will be abused and our will be like
Nowheresville.

2. Can you give a non circular definition of claim rights?

• No.