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Full Idea
It would be incomprehensible and incoherent to ascribe rights to human beings in respect of the specifically human capacities (such as the right to beliefs or life-style) while at the same time denying that those capacities ought to be developed.
Gist of Idea
Assigning a right based on a human capacity implies that the capacity should be developed
Source
Charles Taylor (Atomism [1979], p.33)
Book Ref
'Communitarianism and Individualism', ed/tr. Avineri,S. /de-Shalit,A. [OUP 1992], p.33
A Reaction
Developed by whom? The agent, their family, or the state? At what point has someone got a capacity, with no further requirement to develop it? Taylor pulls rather large rabbits out of small hats.
| 23417 | If the state is neutral, there won't be sufficient community to support a welfare state [Taylor,C, by Kymlicka] |
| 22809 | The social contract sees society as constituted by and for individuals [Taylor,C] |
| 22811 | Assigning a right based on a human capacity implies that the capacity should be developed [Taylor,C] |
| 22810 | A right is not just a rule, but also asserts certain ideas of moral worth [Taylor,C] |
| 22812 | For most people the primacy of rights mainly concerns freedom [Taylor,C] |
| 22813 | Property is not essential for life, but it may be essential for independence [Taylor,C] |
| 22814 | Our reliance on other people close to us does not imply any political obligations [Taylor,C] |
| 22815 | If freedom depends on society and culture, the greatest freedom is in shaping them [Taylor,C] |