Surely, every person at least once in his life heard such words: “You must!” or "You owe it!". And often they sound in the same context. But, nevertheless, what unites the concepts of “duty” and “obligation”?
Terminology
So, it’s worth starting with a word that has a broader definition. And that is duty. The obligation, in other words, the funds that are transferred to the borrower by its lender subject to further return along with interest (that is, with interest).
It is customary to distinguish between several types of debt - national, state (external and internal), municipal, corporate, personal, public and moral.
What is a duty? Essentially synonymous with debt. This word means actions that are unconditional to perform. There are also other synonyms - necessity and duty. So the use of both of these words in the same context can be considered correct and permissible.
Turning to the Constitution
In this document, the concepts of “duty” and “obligation” are side by side, in the first part of the 59th article, to be more precise. It says that the defense of the Fatherland is the duty and duty of a citizen of the Russian Federation. Why is that? Well, the history of such a formulation is rooted in the socialist past.
Then the Motherland (that is, the Fatherland) took care of its people. Given free education, medical care, places in kindergartens and even real estate - housing. Pensioners were paid pensions and paid their benefits. The motherland guaranteed the integrity and reliability of bank deposits to everyone and everyone. The risk of inflation was minimal.
And for all this, people paid the so-called debt to the Motherland, which, incidentally, was also a plus for people. For example, service in the Armed Forces of the USSR is the real defense of the Fatherland, duty and duty. But it was very honorable.
The moral side of the issue
It is worth noting the attention of a topic that touches on concepts such as moral duty and obligations. The fact is that this is a special category of ethics that defines a person’s attitude to society and to other people. Duty is a moral task that a person formulates for himself, focusing on personal principles and promises made to himself. Such a duty may be parental, sons, comradely, fraternal, friendly, etc.
More often than not, people give themselves promises regarding their work. By all means help those in need, for example. Or cure the patient, no matter how neglected his case may be. Find the criminal, even if he is the most dangerous. Such a duty can be social, military, patriotic, medical, judicial, investigative.
All of the above refers to moral requirements, acting as a duty of a person assigned to his shoulders by himself.
Conscience
Above, it was clearly enough told about what unites the concepts of “duty” and “obligation”. In fact, when a person makes such moral demands on himself, this characterizes him from the best side, speaks of his conscience, which is a reflection of consciousness and a sense of moral responsibility for human behavior. She is often called our “internal regulator”, which helps to perform certain actions and behave in a certain way.
This is the very “determinant” that always, with the help of an inner voice, tells us what is good and what is bad and helps us to do the right thing.
Shame
What unites the concepts of “duty” and “duty”? One more word. And this is shame. There is a vivid example.
Suppose a person made promises to himself, at all costs, to help his parents. Once he had a difficult period - in the literal sense of the word, spending the night at work, round-the-clock work, reporting, and sheer fuss. And finally, he gets home, and all he needs is a bath, food and sleep.
But suddenly his parents called him and asked for help. Let's say pick up from a building materials store, because they bought something heavy, and you can’t get through to a taxi. What does a person do? With great difficulty, overcoming wild fatigue, he goes to help them.
Having spent time and the rest of his strength, he returns, but feels, surprisingly, in a good mood. He fulfilled his moral duty, did not disappoint his relatives and kept his promise, which was once made before himself, and he is good at heart. But if he refused? There would be a precipitate. He would have been ashamed, since the subconscious without his participation would have “weighed” his action in accordance with his conscience. “But I promised,” only he will sigh.
Are there any differences?
So, that combines the concepts of “duty” and “obligation”, of course. Are there any differences? It is believed that yes. And there are also explanations for this statement.
It is believed that debt is closely linked to justice. Often this judgment is even defined as an explanation of the concept itself. “Debt is the restoration of balance between several people,” - so it sounds. That is, in fact, only the person who borrowed (not necessarily money) can be due.
Adherents of this opinion assure that the word “duty” should not be taken as a synonym for this concept, since this, in turn, is a formal agreement to carry out certain actions under specific conditions. However, in certain cases, the concepts really need to be distinguished. Some people with an absent conscience often manipulate others using phrases like “You must!” and "you owe it!"
However, one will be difficult to challenge: both one and the second concept are directly related to morality. And that is a fact.