Lesson 1: Notions of Public Ethics I

In the last 40 years or so, human rights has become a worldwide,

house-hold expression. It is certainly one of the dominant ideas of
public ethics of our time.
In the frst classes of this course of introduction to human rights it
is, then, necessary to deal with basic notions of ethics, particularly
public ethics or, if you wish, political ethics. In this ery frst class
we will touch on four points! ". #he world of norms$ %. #he meaning
of morals ersus ethics$ &. #he concept of normatie systems$ 4.
'i(erent connotations of legal systems.
1. The world of norms. )thics and law are two disciplines which
do not concern themseles with aspects of what actually exists, has
existed, or may come to be. *hysics, biology, history, economics or
psychology, among many other disciplines, do so. )thics and law
deal with what ought to be. In other words, they deal with what is
or should be considered right, +ust, fair or good. #his is the world of
what is called prescriptie norms, that is, rules which prescribe what
must be done, what is permitted and what is prohibited.
#he realm of what actually is and the realm of what ought to be
are logically disconnected. ,or instance, one may not conclude that
because stealing is morally and legally prohibited, it does not
happen. -onersely, it cannot be concluded either that because
stealing does occur in practice, it is morally or legally acceptable.
.oweer, although the realm of what ought to be is not logically
connected with reality, it does pull it, to some extent, toward what is
considered desirable, in the manner of a graitational force. #he
clearer and the more enforceable the ethical or legal norm, the
greater the graitational attraction it may exert oer reality.
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.uman fallibility predicts, howeer, that there will always be a
lesser or greater measure of discrepancy between what actually is
and what is deemed as +ust, fair or good. 9ut this actually suggests
that we, as human beings, hae a choice of doing the right thing,
and therefore we are free. :n apple ;say, <ewton=s apple> could not
hae eer been free when falling down ineitably to the ground.

2. The meaning of morals versus ethics. /orals and ethics do
not mean exactly the same, although they tend to be used as
synonyms and that is basically 0.?. /orals is about formulating
prescriptie norms based on what is being considered right or
wrong or ultimately good or bad. /orals is also about passing
moral udgment on actions on the basis of such norms. )thics,
instead, is about stud!ing the "eld of morals.
'rawing a parallel with the realm of the law, the expert in morals
would be e@uialent to the lawmaAer or the +udge in that heBshe
maAes norms or applies them, whereas the expert in ethics would
be e@uialent to the +urist, in that heBshe studies such actiities and
their product. In other words, while morals is what happens in the
feld, ethics is the obseration and appraisal of such actions from
the benches.
.aing clarifed that distinction from an academic standpoint, let us
repeat that we accept that morals and ethics are in practice used as
the same.
#. The concept of normative s!stems. #he elementary unit in
the normatie world is the norm, much as in the biological feld is
the cell and in the physical one, the atom. /any elements may be
identifed within the norm, cell or atom but they constitute the basic
bricA to build more complex structures within their respectie
realms.
<orms form normatie systems, that is, sets of norms on a gien
sub+ect or addressed to a gien group. <ormatie systems are
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intended to protect or promote certain alues within a society or
internationally. #hese alues may be organiCed hierarchically, with a
general, all-encompassing alue at the top and more specifc ones
down the ladder. ,or instance, concerning the human rights
normatie system, it may be said that at the peaA one fnds the
oerall alue of human dignity. 0n a more specifc plane there are
categories of alues such as ciil liberties. :nd in an een more
specifc leel, there are rights such as the freedom of speech, the
freedom of moement or the freedom of association.
-usp alues or norms may be alid for all situations, but, at a
more specifc leel, they may ac@uire particular connotations,
depending on the characteristics of any gien feld. ,or instance,
the norm to eeryone hisBher due changes colors regarding family
relations ;to eeryone according to hisBher necessity>, schooling ;to
eeryone according to hisBher merit>, or corporations ;to eeryone
according to hisBher control of corporate capital>. #his does not
mean that some specifc norms are weaAer. It +ust means that they
are tailored to the characteristics of the feld in @uestion.
$. %i&erent connotations of legal s!stems. 1egal systems are,
of course, normatie in character. .oweer, the enforcement of
their norms at the national leel, is bacAed up by the monopoly of
force en+oyed by the 4tate. /oral systems do not hae such
peremptory enforcement.
1egal systems may be thought of more narrowly or more broadly. In
a narrow sense, one may speaA of the criminal code or the labor
code or een the whole body of laws ;including the -onstitution> of
a gien country. In a broader sense, one may add the actual
functioning of the institutions and mechanisms that are meant to
maAe laws and to apply the laws already passed. ,inally, in the
broadest possible connotation, legal systems would include also the
social and political processes which may lead to particular interests
or alues to be enshrined in new laws and institutions. ,or instance,
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it tooA many decades of social and political actiism and much
intellectual debate to gain the right to ote for women worldwide.
#his broadest connotation of legal systems also includes those
processes which consist in seeAing alternatie ways to enforce laws
and to protect rights when the institutions charged with doing so
hae ceased to function e(ectiely. ,or instance, under a dictatorial
goernment, with no independent +udiciary, people hae often come
up with imaginatie ways to denounce human rights iolations and
to protect ictims.
#raditionally, this broadest connotation has been regarded as the
terrain of social actiism, politics or ethics, not of the law. .oweer,
in times of rapid social and technological change, such as the
present times, many new social demands come to the fore and
much pressure is exerted for them to be taAen in by new laws.
#oday there is a need for norms to regulate many technological,
enironmental and human challenges. #he response of formal law-
maAing mechanisms is generally slow to come and insuDcient.
#herefore, the so-called soft power of citiCen actiism Eexes its
muscles and puts pressure on goernments to act. Fe hae a clear
example of this in the citiCensG protests which erupted worldwide in
%0"" to denounce gross social and economic ine@uality and to
demand better social policies. 4ome of them go on until today.
In sum, the narrow connotation of normatie systems may be said
to amount to the rules of the game. #he broader connotation of
normatie systems would be e@uialent to the practice of the game,
and the broadest connotation may be compared to the demands of
the players to modify or improe the rules of the game in light of
the shortcomings discoered when playing it.

*lease isit moocchile.com and we inite you to watch the next
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