The Dilemma of Rights for Homosexuals

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that much of the complaint on the side of gay rights activists is based on the common modern idea that every person has the right to employment; however, there exists a great philosophical question as to whether a right to work actually exists. The author points out that opposed to the right to work is the employer's strong right to self-determination, disposal of his personal property, and his or her right of association. The paper concludes that, though gays and lesbians may have a moral right to work, no person, whether gay or straight, has a moral right to specific employment.

From the Paper:

"Another view of rights suggests that they are man-made and legally created. In that case, "the question whether there is a right to work then becomes a purely factual one" depending on whether or not the government has created such a right. Classically, rights are negative -- that is to say, they are determined by arenas in which no one should be allowed to interfere, such as a right to life, which should not be violated by murder. One could argue then that there is a moral right to work, in that no one should interfere with someone else's occupation. At the same time, there does not seem to be a moral right to work for a particular employer or for a particular wage or to be paid at all. Few rights are positive in the sense that they are a right to have something, because that would require someone else to actively provide it."

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