Recent orders

Rights and Duties

Student’s Name:

Instructor’s Name:

Course Code:

Date:

Rights and Duties

Question 1:

The relationship between a right and a duty is that they are closely related. A right refers to an expectation regarding something an individual deserves or a way to act, which is justified by the legal or moral foundation. A right cannot be denied at whatever means, and when denied, there are consequences associated with the denial. An example of a right is the right to life. On the other hand, duties refer to the direct results occurring from the acceptance of rights. Every person has a duty to uphold in respecting other people’s rights, just as the other person has an obligation to respect another person’s rights.

Based on this, the relationship between rights and duties is that duties are meant to preserve the rights of other people. We all have a duty to preserve the rights of others, such as the right to life, so that ours can be protected as well. In his deontological theory, Emmanuel Kant defines perfect duties as those duties that an individual must do. An example of a perfect duty includes a teacher awarding an excelled student a grade ‘A.’ It would be wrong if the teacher awarded the student a different grade. On the other hand, imperfect duties are those that an individual must not ignore but has multiple means of fulfillment. According to Emanuel Kant, there are two types of imperfect duties that include the duty to help others as well as the duty of self-improvement.

Question 2:

The schema (a) A right is a claim to something, (b) against someone, and (c) that ought to be recognized as valid tend to have different meanings. 

A right to claim to something – Individuals do not only have a right, but a right-claim has to specify what individuals have a right to. The specification, in this case, however, could take two different forms that include claiming that someone ought to refrain from doing certain things against them. For example, everyone has the right to claim the right to life, and this means that other people should refrain from taking away the person’s life. In this case, the right to life is a negative right implying that they are rights to be free from certain kinds of interference. A right to claim can also take the form of positive rights in which others perform certain actions. For example, the right to life not only implies that we only have a duty not to kill someone, but we also have an obligation to keep them alive that can be achieved by providing security and other basic needs to prevent them from dying.

A right is a claim against someone – As noted above, rights have correlative duties in that we have an obligation to refrain from certain activities to protect others. At the same time, we have an obligation to perform certain activities to protect the other person’s rights. Based on this, a right to claim against something must be specified or implied by the particular claim that someone has a certain right. For example, negative rights are more likely to give rise to negative duties for everyone. For example, an individual has the right to life, and this means that everyone has the duty to keep them alive. On the other hand, a positive right imposes a duty on a specific person. For example, an individual has the right to live, and this means that we have an obligation not only to refrain from killing them but we have to keep them alive. The duty imposed in this case involves providing essentials such as education to help preserve their lives.

Rights are claims that ought to be recognized as valid – There are two types of rights, according to Feinberg, and that is legal rights, which defines rights as claims whose recognition is called for by the law. Based on this, valid rights are those recognized by the law and which are enforced by the law. Therefore, rights that are not recognized by the law are illegal and do not require legal duties. The other type of rights is the moral rights, which are claims whose recognition is required by morality, regardless of whether it is required by the law. The distinction between legal and moral rights is that a person can have moral rights or duty, which might not be protected or enforced by the law. Also, an individual can have legal rights that are protected by the law but are not rooted in morality. Therefore, rights should be recognized as valid based on whether they are legal and morally rooted, or they are moral and legally protected and enforced by the law.

Question 3:

An example of rights chosen is Google in China, which is a case of negative rights to information. Google opened a censored Web site in China, and this denies the rights of an individual to access information. Negative rights assert that a person has the right to access information. Therefore, censoring the website is morally wrong since it denies the Chinese citizens the right to access information of their choice.

According to the concept of the validity of rights, a person may have moral rights or legal rights, and both need to be backed up by the other. For example, the right to information is a legal right, and this means that Google has a responsibility to offer information to the public. However, a legal right cannot be valid if it is not rooted in morality. Positive rights claim that we all have an obligation to preserve the rights of others by respecting them and offering essential support that guarantees the continued privileged of enjoying the rights. The obligation may be moral or legal, and each of them has to be backed by the other.

In the case of Google in China, censoring the websites is the legal requirement of the Chinese government, and therefore not a decision made by Google officials. The right to enjoy information freely, which is morally right, is not guaranteed in China, and this means that Google as a service provider, does not have a duty to provide uncensored information to the Chinese. In this case, Google does not have positive rights that are aimed to back up the provision of uncensored information. A person may have moral rights that do not have legal backing and enforcement, and at the same time, they may enjoy legal rights that are not morally rooted. In both cases, the rights are not valid, and therefore, the case of Google in China, which involves the provision of censored information, is not valid. Google only has a moral responsibility to offer information but does not have the legal backing to provide uncensored information, and this is why the rights are recognized as not valid.

Native American Culture

Student’s Name:

Instructor’s Name:

Course Code:

Date:

Native American Culture

Question 1:

The Eastern Agricultural Complex is a term used to describe the agricultural practices of the pre-historic Eastern Woodland Native Americans which took place in Canada and the eastern United States (Byers). It is one of about ten independent centers of plant domestication during the pre-historic world. The Native Americans on North America cultivated various species of plants in the 1800 BCE, and this enabled a smooth transition from an economy controlled by hunter-gathering and to an agricultural economy.

Ralph Linton is credited as the anthropologist who popularized the term Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC). According to Linton’s suggestions, the tribes from the Eastern Woodland integrated maize from the Aztecs, and the Mayans currently referred to as Nicaragua and Mexico respectively to their pre-existing agricultural practices. Volney Jones and Melvin Gilmore who were ethnobotanists developed their understanding of the Eastern Woodland Agriculture from Ralph Linton and incorporated the understanding their work in caves and bluff dwellings in Kentucky and the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. Other scientists such as George Quimby was involved in the popularization of the term Eastern complex in the 1940s.

In the Eastern Woodlands, maize was introduced from Mexico after 200 BCE, and this enabled the Native Americans to slowly change the present indigenous crops, and this resulted to the decline of indigenous crops other than squash. The first plants to have been domesticated include sunflower, marsh elder, goosefoot and squash. Other crops included little barley, erect knotweed, may grass and sump weed. Evidence used by paleoethnobotanists to determine whether carbonized seed came from the wild or domesticated plant includes bone chemistry as people are what they consume. Direct evidence exists primarily in the form of charred seeds, wood and other plants such as nutshells corn cobs and cupules, pollen and phytoliths. Indirect evidence is derived from cooking pots and storage pits, charred food residue found in containers and artefacts

Question 2:

Adena refers to an early Native American culture that is centered in Ohio River from about 10th BC to 2nd century and was known for its circular earthworks, elaborate burial mounds as well as a highly developed artistic style (Cross). Definitional problems that exist in discussing Adena vs. Early Woodland culture is that the Adena culture was a pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 1000 to 200 BC, and this time was referred to as the Early Woodland period. Based on this, the Adena culture can be defined as being the Early Woodland culture as they can be used interchangeably.

Question 3:

The Hopewell mound and earthwork complexes found in southern and central Ohio are composed of great geometric earthworks and are among the most impressive Native American monuments that exist throughout the American prehistory (Ruby). The mounds have various geometric shapes and also rise to impressive heights. The gigantic sculpted earthworks take the shapes of animals, humans, writhing serpents and birds and bears, for example, the Octagon and Newark earthworks. However, most of the mounds contain various types of burial and this has been attributed to the presence of precious burial goods in the mounds such as adornment made of mica, copper and obsidian which were imported from other far regions.

Other objects found in these sites include stone and ceramics which were fashioned into intricate shapes. Other than for ceremonial purposes, the mounds and earthworks were also used for social and economic purposes. The raw materials were traded or obtained from distant places such as copper from the northern Greta Lake areas, mica from the southern Appalachians and mollusks from the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic. Obsidian was also obtained from the northern Rocky Mountains while the stones were obtained from the Knife River in the western Great Plains. Most of these raw materials were obtained through trade.

Works Cited

Byers, A. Martin. The Real Mound Builders of North America: A Critical Realist Prehistory of the Eastern Woodlands, 200 BC–1450 AD. Lexington Books, 2018.

Cross, John A. “Native American Landscapes in the Eastern United States.” Ethnic Landscapes of America. Springer, Cham, 2017. 21-46.

Ruby, Bret J. “Revealing Ritual Landscapes at the Hopewell Mound Group.” (2018).

Journal #Motivation

Student’s Name:

Instructor’s Name:

Course Code:

Date:

Journal #Motivation

Motivation can be defined as the desire by an individual to act in service of a specific goal. For this assignment, I have chosen the movie “Black Panther” as a motivation for better leadership. I have chosen this movie as a tribute to the fallen hero “Chadwick Boseman” and who is the main motivation for many of us who love action movies. Leadership is an important trait as it helps guide the subjects in what is right and keep them away from that which can harm them. The movie is based on kingship challenges in which three people challenge a king’s position in the Wakanda Kingdom. One of them is T’Challa, the son of the late T’Chaka, who is first challenged by the leader of the neighboring Jabari Tribe, M’Baku, and then challenged Killmonger, the son of King T’Chaka’s late undercover brother, N’Jobu. Wakanda is a wealthy nation due to its major resource, vibranium- a magic metal capable of endless uses, which makes the Wakandans invisible, wealthy, and by choice, isolationists.

One of the major leadership motivations from the movie depicted by T’Challa is that a true leader serves his people unequivocally. To him, the people do not exist for his manipulative pleasure and seeks counsel from the people he represents. Furthermore, a true leader mingles with his people at ease. The people are the reminders of the responsibility that rests on his shoulders to both protect them and guide them to the right path. A true leader is forgiving, and this is depicted when he forgives W’Kabi for his betrayals and reconciling with M’Baku and Killmonger to build a strong Wakanda nation.