Midterm exam  (Page 2/3)

Respect for basic rights

Vasanti case (from nussbaum, women and capabilities)

• Does Vasanti have the right not to be treated as property?
• How would this right be formulated?
• What does it include? (For example, does it include the right not to be beaten or the right to be protected from forced, conjugal sex?)
• What essential capacities of action would this right protect?
• Do women like Vasanti have this right even though they may not be aware of it due to what is termed "preference deformation?"

Jayamma's problem (from nussbaum, women and capabilities)

• Does Jayamma have a right to equal pay (and equal treatment) in her employment? Does this right exist in itself or must it be derived from another, more fundamental right?
• If Jayamma has such a right, how can her society aid her as one who has been deprived of this right?
• Do Jayamma’s sons have a duty to support her now that she is too old to work? If so, to what right is this duty correlative?
• Does Jayamma’s daughter have a right to work in the profession (nursing) for which she is qualified? If so, what is the standard threat present in this situation that must be addressed to protect her right to work? How are the duties correlative to this right to work to be spelled out and distributed? (What individuals have which level of correlative duty? What organizations exist or could be devised to carry out some or all of the correlative duties?)

Rights conflicts in business

Your company has recently entered into a cooperative venture with a Japanese firm. A team of engineers from this firm has come to your plant to teach your engineers a new manufacturing process. However, a member of this team, a Japanese engineer with very traditional cultural views, refuses to work with your team because one of the members is a woman. He persists even though you tell him that she is a highly qualified engineer. What should you do?