the right to life ethic

소개

홍콩 교환학생 시절 윤리 수업에서 적은 텀페이퍼 입니다. A받은 페이퍼입니다. 아래는 당시 에세이에대한 질문이였습니다.
As one of the most basic human rights, the “right to life” can be interpreted as either a negative right (the right to self-preservation) or a positive right (the right to subsistence). Which interpretation do you think is more reasonable? Why do you think so?

목차

1. Introduction
2. References

본문내용

Introduction
Among the variety of human rights that are basic for the appropriate and safe human existence is the right to life. It is clear that human rights and political commitment to these rights may vary across cultures and political systems. Nevertheless, the human right to life has been supported by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and is widely recognized across the world. At the same time, there are various interpretations of life that may be considered more or less reasonable, and can be interpreted as the right to self-preservation and the right to subsistence. However, among the two interpretations the right to self-preservation seems to be the most reasonable one.
Despite the fact that self-preservation may roughly mean that it is a basic instinct, which may be viewed as the action of keeping oneself alive or safe in emergency or dangerous situations, without regard to the consequences, in contemporary world this understanding can be significantly extended. This extension should be viewed from the legal, social and political perspectives.

참고자료

· The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (1948, December 10). Retrieved from United Nations: http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/
· Bowie, N. E., & Simon, R. L. (1986). Chapter Three. Natural Rights: Meaning and Justification. In N. E. Bowie, & R. L. Simon, The Individual and the Political Order (pp. 49-76). Engelwood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
· Harris, E. E. (1966). Respect for persons. In R. T. de George (Ed.), Ethics and Society (pp. 111-132). Garden City , N.Y.:: Anchor Books.
· Kam-Por, Y. (2002). Self-ownership and its implications for Bioethics. In J. Tao (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the (Im)Possibility of Global Bioethics (pp. 197-208). Dordrecht, The Netherlands:: Kluwer Academic Publishers.