 Does the sanction theory of rights provide a good reconciliation of rights and utility? Not surprisingly, the sanction theory of rights inherits the problems of the sanction theory of duty. Recall that we found sanction utilitarianism to be internally inconsistent insofar as it combines indirect and direct utilitarian claims  (§2.10).  Because the sanction theory of rights is committed to sanction utilitarianism, it inherits this inconsistency.