Question

Foot talks about moral significance of differences between doing and allowing, and connects this to the concepts of negative duties and positive duties. Please explain one of Foot's examples where two negative duties clash. State which duty she takes to be the morally prevailing duty in that case and explain why it prevails.

Answer 1

According to Foot difference between allowing harm and doing harm is related to the relationship of the agent to the harmful event.invidiuals are free and capable to choose harmful sequences. Foot separates the setting, sustaining, enabling, forbearing.

Sustaining and initiating both are similar to doing harm. On the other hand, forbearing to stop and enabling are similar to allowing the harm.

Foots believes that there is no similarity between separation of allowing and doing to the action and omission separation because there is no correlation between allowing and omission, commission and doing.

Negative rights are more powerful in comparison to the positive right because negative rights stop interference but positive rights are rights that support.