Old French Latin Debt Ethics Morality Honor Culture Law Liability Sacrifice Self-Interest Cicero

Duty
A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; Old French: deu, did, past participle
of devoir; Latin: debere, debitum, whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform
some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system
of ethics or morality, especially in an honor culture. Many duties are created by law, sometimes
including a codified punishment or liability for non-performance. Performing one's duty may
require some sacrifice of self-interest.
Cicero, an early Roman philosopher who discusses duty in his work “On Duty", suggests that
duties can come from four different sources:[1]
1. as a result of being a human

2. as a result of one's particular place in life (one's family, one's country, one's job)
3. as a result of one's character
4. as a result of one's own moral expectations for oneself
The specific duties imposed by law or culture vary considerably, depending on
jurisdiction, religion, and social norms.
Duty[2] is also often perceived as something owed to one’s country (patriotism), or to one's
homeland or community. Civic duties could include:
 Obey the law

 Pay taxes
 Provide for a common defense, should the need arise
 Enroll to vote, and vote at all elections and referenda (unless there is a reasonable
excuse such as a religious objection, being overseas, or illness on polling day)
 Serve on a jury, if called upon
 Go to the aid of victims of accidents and street crime and testifying as a witness later
in court
 Report contagious illnesses or pestilence to public-health authorities
 Volunteer for public services (e.g. life-saving drills)
 Donate blood periodically or when needed
 Give time to voice advice on a relevant field of expertise, benefits, workplace
improvements and on how it is conducted or run
 Duty of revolution against an unjust government
Duties of employment[edit]
Specific obligations arise in the services performed by a minister of a church, by a soldier, or by
any employee or servant.[3]
Examples:
 Dereliction of duty is an offense in U.S. military law

 Duty to protect, in medicine
 In loco parentis, for schools
 Professional responsibility for lawyers
In most cultures, children are expected to take on duties in relation to their families. This may
take the form of behaving in such a way that upholds the family’s honor in the eyes of the
community, entering into arranged marriages that benefit the family's status, or caring for ailing
relatives. This family-oriented sense of duty is a particularly central aspect to the teachings
of Confucius, and is known as xiao, or filial piety. As such, the duties of filial piety have played
an enormous role in the lives of people in eastern Asia for centuries. For example, the
painting Lady Feng and the Bear, from ancient China, depicts the heroic act of a consort of the
emperor placing herself between her husband and a rampaging bear. This is meant to be taken
as an example of admirable filial behavior. Filial piety is considered so important that in some
cases, it outweighs other cardinal virtues: In a more modern example, "concerns with filial piety
of the same general sort that motivate women to engage in factory work in Korea, Japan,
Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and elsewhere in Asia are commonly cited by Thai
prostitutes as one of their primary rationales for working in the skin trade".[5] The importance of
filial piety can be expressed in this quote from the Analects of Confucius: "Yu Tzu said, 'It is rare
for a man whose character is such that he is good as a son and obedient as a young man to
have the inclination to transgress against his superiors; it is unheard of for one who has no such
inclination to be inclined to start a rebellion. The gentleman devotes his efforts to the roots, for
once the roots are established, the Way will grow there from. Being good as a son and obedient
as a young man is, perhaps, the root of a man's character'".[citation needed]]
Duty varies between different cultures and continents. Duty in Asia and Latin America is
commonly more heavily weighted than in Western culture. According to a study done on
attitudes toward family obligation:
"Asian and Latin American adolescents possessed stronger values and greater
expectations regarding their duty to assist, respect, and support their families than their
peers with European backgrounds".[6]
The deeply rooted tradition of duty among both Asian and Latin American cultures
contributes to much of the strong sense of duty that exists in comparison to western
cultures. Michael Peletz discusses the concept of duty in his book Gender, Sexuality, and
Body Politics in Modern Asia:
"Notions of filial duty … are commonly invoked to mobilize the loyalties, labor power, and
other resources children in the ostensible interests of the household and, in some cases,
those of the lineage clan as a whole. Doctrines of filial piety … attuned to them may thus
be a source of great comfort and solace to the elders but they can also be experienced
as stressful, repressive, or both by those who are enjoined to honor their parents’ (and
grandparents’) wishes and unspoken expectations".[7]
An arranged marriage is an example of an expected duty in Asia and the Middle East. In
an arranged marriage relating to duty, it is expected that the wife will move in with the
husband’s family and household to raise their children. Patrilocal residence is usual;
rarely does the man move in with the woman, or is the married couple allowed to start
their own household and life somewhere else. They need to provide for the entire family
in labor and care for the farms and family. Older generations rely heavily on the help
from their children's and grandchildren's families. This form of duty is in response to
keeping the lineage of a family intact and obliging to the needs of elders.
Criticisms of the concept[edit]
Nietzsche[edit]
Friedrich Nietzsche is among the fiercest critics of the concept of duty. "What destroys a
man more quickly", he asks, "than to work, think, and feel without inner necessity,
without any deep personal desire, without pleasure—as a mere automaton of “duty”?"
(The Antichrist, § 11)
Nietzsche claims that the task of all higher education is "to turn men into machines".
The way to turn men into machines is to teach them to tolerate boredom. This is
accomplished, Nietzsche says, by means of the concept of duty. (Twilight of the Idols,
“Skirmishes of an untimely man” § 9.29)
Schopenhauer's writings, among them On the Basis of Morality, had a profound effect
on Nietzsche and led him to a series of inversions to show that morality was not based
in "compassion or sympathy" but in life overcoming itself through the will to power.
Among these inversions "duty" and "pity," from Kant and Schopenhauer respectively.
Ayn Rand[edit]
Ayn Rand, a youthful admirer of Nietzsche, anchored her morality against Kant's notion
of duty. "In a deontological theory, all personal desires are banished from the realm of
morality; a personal desire has no moral significance, be it a desire to create or a desire
to kill. For example, if a man is not supporting his life from duty, such a morality makes
no distinction between supporting it by honest labor or by robbery. If a man wants to be
honest, he deserves no moral credit; as Kant would put it, such honesty is
'praiseworthy,' but without 'moral import.'"[8]

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Duty

1. as a result of being a human

 Obey the law

 Dereliction of duty is an offense in U.S. military law

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