The Prioirty Of The Rights

Right is an important topic in Rawls' theory. This article is a systematicexplanation of the thought of the rights in Rawls' theory. This interpretation is carriedout around Rawls' deontological moral philosophy. One of the central meaning ofRawls' thought of the rights is the priority of the right, that is to say, people havecertain rights, and they have priority in the social value systems. The concept ofpriority is based on the the conception of deontology. The core of a deontologicalpoint of view is that the right is prior to the good. Fundamental rights belong to thecategory of the right, therefore, they obtained the status of the basic moral principles,and have a moral priority. Rawls re-constructs the argument of the deontologicalconception. The right in Rawls' theory of justice is regarded as a basic structure ofsociety. Rawls' justifications on justice and its priority combine the considered beliefsof moral intuitions with imaginary social contract by the method of reflectiveequilibrium, and this methodological innovation marks the transcendence to thetraditional concept of deontology and Rawls' own theory comes into being. Thus theright theory has a new philosophical foundation.The conception of rights based on the deontology has the following importantfeatures: regarding human dignity as the fundament of rights; adhereing to the priorityof individual rights; equality being the basis of rights. This conception of rights basedon the moral principles is different from the theory of rights on utilitarianism andconsequentialism. With the interpreting of the connotation of the concept of equalityincluding reciprocity, Rawls not only attaches the importance to the equality in civilrights, political rights and economic and social rights, but also focuses on trying tonarrow the inequalities in the social and economic status, providing a social basis forthe realization of the right. These views make up for the deficiencies of rights theory of the liberal tradition, that is to say, to stick to the extreme, abstract individualismand formalism, and lack of social theory and social care, and develop the theory ofrights-oriented liberalism. Around these contents, the paper is divided into sevensections to elaborate.Introduction. from the perspective of history of thought, it first analyses the basicposition of the legitimacy of rights in the right theory, and then expounds Rawls'sdeontological right view's contribution and innoavation camparable to the traditionalidea of rights. And then it simply values Rawls's theory's significance in the history ofthought development. This chapter outlines the basic background for the the theme ofthe whole disseration.Chapter one, on controversy between utility and deontology: the contemporarybackground of views of rights. This chapter aims to investigate the theory of rights ina contemporary background, namely the controversy about views of utilitarian rightsand deontological rights. First, concepion of utilitarianism rights are analyzed in thedetail.Then Rawls's critique of teleology philosophical standpoint and methodologyfoundation is described, thereby revealing that the utilitarianism cannot be a goodmoral basis for rights.Chapter two, moral base of the rights: Rawls's deontological thought andjustification.Rawls re-constructs the argument of the deontological conception. Theright in Rawls's theory of justice is regarded as a basic structure of society. Rawls'sjustifications on justice and its priority combine the considered beliefs of moralintuitions with imaginary social contract by the method of reflective equilibrium, andthis methodological innovation marks the transcendence to the traditional concept ofdeontology and Rawls's own theory comes into being. Thus the right theory has a newphilosophical foundation.Chapter three, the priority of the right: a clarification of the deontological rightview. The priority of the rights constitutes the subject of theory of the deontologicalrights. The priority of the rights refers to the priority position owned by the variousitems of fundamental rights as a whole system of rights among the social value system. Fundamental rights is built on moral personality, and therefore, the rights contained inthe first principle of justice are moral rights, and basic moral rights also. Then in thischapter we describe several important theoretical characteristics about Rawls'sfundamental moral rights based on the equal dignity.Chapter four, the systematism and instituionalization of right.From the secondprinciple of justice,we can deduce various social and economic rights. According tothe difference of the content, these rights can be divided into basic moral rights andcommon moral rights. The two types of rights constitute the moral rights system.Inaddition,this chapter discusses Rawls's view about the relationship of right,democracyand the rule of law. Rawls thinks that the rights constitute the core content of theconstitutionalism and the rule of law and a restriction on democracy.It is theinstitutionalizaion of rights.The systemalization and institutionalization of rightsconstitute the whole extensive system of the theory of Rawls's right.Chapter five, the influence and dispute of Rawls's deontology right view.Firstly,Nozick's and Dworkin's views of rights affected by Rawls's theory has beendiscussed here. Then it introduces the criticisms of the Rawls's theory from differentangles by Kymlicka, Sumner and Waldron. It attempts to treat Rawls's theory fromthe point of view of others. In the end, it summarizes the contribution of Rawls'stheory, that is, Rawls puts forward a new theoretical paradigm including a newjustification method on a new theoretical foundation.Chapter six, conclusions:the problem of utilitarian right view and the significanceof deontology right view.This chapter aims to tentatively apply Rawls's right theory toanalyse China's social rights theory and practice. Firstly, it critically analyzesutilitarian right view's harmful effect on contemporary Chinese society. Then thischapter discusses the content of the deontology rights idea and the right-basedpolitical thought's important meaning for China.