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Over the past decade or so, philosophical speculation about human rights has tended to fall into two streams. On the one hand, there are "Orthodox" theorists, who think of human rights as natural rights: moral rights that we have simply in virtue of being human. On the other hand, there are"Political" theorists, who think of human rights as rights that play a distinctive role, or set of roles, in modern international politics: setting universal standards of political legitimacy, serving as norms of international concern, and/or imposing limits on the exercise of national sovereignty.This edited volume explores this disagreement, its underlying sources, and related issues in the philosophy of...
Over the past decade or so, philosophical speculation about human rights has tended to fall into two streams. On the one hand, there are "Orthodox" theorists, who think of human rights as natural rights: moral rights that we have simply in virtue of being human. On the other hand, there are "Political" theorists, who think of human rights as rights that play a distinctive role, or set of roles, in modern international politics: setting universal standards of political legitimacy, serving as norms of international concern, and/or imposing limits on the exercise of national sovereignty. This edited volume explores this disagreement, its underlying sources, and related issues in the philosophy ...
The philosophy of human rights has, in recent years, revolved around a supposed dilemma. On the one hand, some contend that the normative system of human rights should be understood from a moral point of view that is independent of conventional practice of human rights. Others contend that the normative system of human rights should be understood from a point of view that is internal to the practice of human rights. A New Philosophy of Human Rights: The Deliberative Account takes on the ambitious task of offering a new philosophy of human rights grounded in the proposition that the current debate is centered on a mistaken assumption. After identifying this error, Joshua J. Kassner develops a novel philosophical account grounded in a deliberative process that leverages the epistemic and practical functions of the practice of human rights, bridging the divide between orthodox and political accounts and promising a more hopeful and constructive future for the philosophy of human rights. The book ends with suggestions for institutional design and reform to transform the promise into reality.
Sovereign Justice collects valuable contributions from scholars of both continental and analytic tradition, and aims to investigate into the relationship between global justice and the nation state. It deals therefore especially with the moral relevance of national boundaries and cosmopolitanism. It is organised in four sections. The first section deals with cosmopolitan approaches to global justice, with regard to which Kok-Choir Tan's article presents an overview over the current state of the art, the challenges that cosmopolitanism is currently facing, and its relationship and contrasts with other theoretical strands. Etinson's article attempts to clarify the concept of cosmopolitanism. D...
In this book, Flynn stresses the vital role of intercultural dialogue in developing a non-ethnocentric conception of human rights. He argues that Jürgen Habermas’s discourse theory provides both the best framework for such dialogue and a much-needed middle path between philosophical approaches that derive human rights from a single foundational source and those that support multiple foundations for human rights (Charles Taylor, John Rawls, and various Rawlsians). By analyzing the historical and political context for debates over the compatibility of human rights with Christianity, Islam, and "Asian Values," Flynn develops a philosophical approach that is continuous with and a critical reflection on the intercultural dialogue on human rights. He reframes the dialogue by situating it in relation to the globalization of modern institutions and by arguing that such dialogue must address issues like the legacy of colonialism and global inequality while also being attuned to actual political struggles for human rights.
A political philosophy classic from one of the foremost political thinkers of the twentieth century After Utopia was Judith Shklar’s first book, a harbinger of her renowned career in political philosophy. Throughout the many changes in political thought during the last half century, this important work has withstood the test of time. In After Utopia, Shklar explores the decline of political philosophy, from Enlightenment optimism to modern cultural despair, and she offers a critical, creative analysis of this downward trend. She looks at Romantic and Christian social thought, and she shows that while the present political fatalism may be unavoidable, the prophets of despair have failed to explain the world they so dislike, leaving the possibility of a new and vigorous political philosophy. With a foreword by Samuel Moyn, examining After Utopia’s continued relevance, this current edition introduces a remarkable synthesis of ideas to a new generation of readers.
Almost every thoughtful person wonders at some time why morality says what it says and how, if at all, it speaks to us. David Wiggins surveys the answers most commonly proposed for such questions--and does so in a way that the thinking reader, increasingly perplexed by the everyday problem of moral philosophy, can follow. His work is thus an introduction to ethics that presupposes nothing more than the reader's willingness to read philosophical proposals closely and literally. Gathering insights from Hume, Kant, the utilitarians, and a twentieth-century assortment of post-utilitarian thinkers, and drawing on sources as diverse as Aristotle, Simone Weil, and Philippa Foot, Wiggins points to t...
This book offers a sophisticated and comprehensive defence of the view that human dignity is the moral heart of human rights, thus enabling us to defend human rights as the urgent ethical and political project that puts humanity first.
Human rights have become one of the most important moral concepts in global political life over the last 60 years. Charles Beitz, one of the world's leading philosophers, offers a compelling new examination of the idea of a human right.
In giving to charity, should we strive to do the greatest good or promote a lesser good? This is a unique collection of new papers on philanthropy from a range of philosophical perspectives, including intuitionism, virtue ethics, Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, theories of justice, and ideals of personal integrity.