Topics Ethics

Question I had to deal with some absolutely respectless persons a short while ago. They were very annoying to me, definitely the kind I don't like. This brought me to a question that seems interesting, at least to me: Do people that don't show any respect to other people deserve any respect themselves? Or, formulated else: Should respectless persons still be respected (e.g., by the persons they show no respect to)?

Accepted:
June 21, 2008

Comments

Annoyingly I suppose they do, since their behaviour may only be temporary, and may have been caused by something that really interferes with their autonomy in any case. On the other hand, they can certainly be treated less well than other people, in the sense that their behaviour can be taken into account, and will be, in how we respond to them. If someone offends us we are entitled to bear that in mind in how we treat that person, unless we deserved to be offended, of course, albeit in only a limited manner. A dangerous driver fails to show sufficient respect to other road users, but we are not entitled to drive him off the road, however much fun that would be!