Moral and Political Conceptions of Human Rights

Moral and Political Conceptions of Human Rights PDF Author: Reidar Maliks
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107153972
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Get Book

Book Description
Human rights can be understood as moral or political. This volume shows how this distinction matters for theory and practice.

Human Rights

Human Rights PDF Author: Adam Etinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198713258
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 519

Get Book

Book Description
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 human rights. Using the Orthodox-Political debate as a springboard for broader reflection, the volume covers a diverse range of questions about: the relevance of the history of human rightsto their philosophical comprehension; how to properly understand the relationship between human rights morality and law; how to balance the normative character of human rights - their description of an ideal world - with the requirement that they be feasible in the here and now; the role of humanrights in a world shaped by politics and power; and how to reconcile the individualistic and communitarian aspects of human rights.All chapters are accompanied by useful and probing commentaries, which help to create dialogues throughout the entire volume.

The ECHR and Human Rights Theory

The ECHR and Human Rights Theory PDF Author: Alain Zysset
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317248120
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 253

Get Book

Book Description
The European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) has been relatively neglected in the field of normative human rights theory. This book aims to bridge the gap between human rights theory and the practice of the ECHR. In order to do so, it tests the two overarching approaches in human rights theory literature: the ethical and the political, against the practice of the ECHR ‘system’. The book also addresses the history of the ECHR and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) as an international legal and political institution. The book offers a democratic defence of the authority of the ECtHR. It illustrates how a conception of democracy – more specifically, the egalitarian argument for democracy developed by Thomas Christiano on the domestic level – can illuminate the reasoning of the Court, including the allocation of the margin of appreciation on a significant number of issues. Alain Zysset argues that the justification of the authority of the ECtHR – its prominent status in the domestic legal orders – reinforces the democratic process within States Parties, thereby consolidating our status as political equals in those legal and political orders.

Moral and Political Conceptions of Human Rights

Moral and Political Conceptions of Human Rights PDF Author: Reidar Maliks
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781108518581
Category : Human rights
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book

Book Description
Human rights can be understood as moral or political. This volume shows how this distinction matters for theory and practice

Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice

Universal Human Rights in Theory and Practice PDF Author: Jack Donnelly
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801487767
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book

Book Description
(unseen), $12.95. Donnelly explicates and defends an account of human rights as universal rights. Considering the competing claims of the universality, particularity, and relativity of human rights, he argues that the historical contingency and particularity of human rights is completely compatible with a conception of human rights as universal moral rights, and thus does not require the acceptance of claims of cultural relativism. The book moves between theoretical argument and historical practice. Rigorous and tightly-reasoned, material and perspectives from many disciplines are incorporated. Paper edition Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Human Rights as Political Imaginary

Human Rights as Political Imaginary PDF Author: José Julián López
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319742744
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 476

Get Book

Book Description
In this book, López proposes the ‘political imaginary’ model as a tool to better understand what human rights are in practice, and what they might, or might not, be able to achieve. Human rights are conceptualised as assemblages of relatively stable, but not unchanging, historically situated, and socially embedded practices. Drawing on an emerging iconoclastic historiography of human rights, the author provides a sympathetic yet critical overview of the field of the sociology of human rights. The book addresses debates regarding sociology’s relationships to human rights, the strengths and limits of the notion of practice, human rights’ affinity to postnational citizenship and cosmopolitism, and human rights’ curious, yet fateful, entanglement with the law. Human Rights as Political Imaginary will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, politics, international relations and criminology.

The Philosophy of Human Rights

The Philosophy of Human Rights PDF Author: Gerhard Ernst
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110263882
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
The notion of “human rights” is widely used in political and moral discussions. The core idea, that all human beings have some inalienable basic rights, is appealing and has an eminently practical function: It allows moral criticism of various wrongs and calls for action in order to prevent them. On the other hand it is unclear what exactly a human right is. Human rights lack a convincing conceptual foundation that would be able to compel the wrong-doer to accept human rights claims as well-founded. Hence the practical function faces theoretical doubts. The present collection takes up the tension between the wide political use of human rights claims and the intellectual skepticism about them. In particular two major issues are identified that call for conceptual clarification in order to better understand human rights claims both in theory and in practice: the question of how to justify human rights and the tension between universal normative claims and particular moralities.

Human Rights: Moral or Political?

Human Rights: Moral or Political? PDF Author: Adam Etinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191022225
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 440

Get Book

Book Description
Human rights have a rich life in the world around us. Political rhetoric pays tribute to them, or scorns them. Citizens and activists strive for them. The law enshrines them. And they live inside us too. For many of us, human rights form part of how we understand the world and what must (or must not) be done within it. The ubiquity of human rights raises questions for the philosopher. If we want to understand these rights, where do we look? As a set of moral norms, it is tempting to think they can be grasped strictly from the armchair, say, by appeal to moral intuition. But what, if anything, can that kind of inquiry tell us about the human rights of contemporary politics, law, and civil society — that is, human rights as we ordinarily know them? This volume brings together a distinguished, interdisciplinary group of scholars to address philosophical questions raised by the many facets of human rights: moral, legal, political, and historical. Its original chapters, each accompanied by a critical commentary, explore topics including: the purpose and methods of a philosophical theory of human rights; the "Orthodox-Political" debate; the relevance of history to philosophy; the relationship between human rights morality and law; and the value of political critiques of human rights.

Force and Freedom

Force and Freedom PDF Author: Arthur Ripstein
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674054512
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Get Book

Book Description
In this masterful work, both an illumination of Kant’s thought and an important contribution to contemporary legal and political theory, Arthur Ripstein gives a comprehensive yet accessible account of Kant’s political philosophy. Ripstein shows that Kant’s thought is organized around two central claims: first, that legal institutions are not simply responses to human limitations or circumstances; indeed the requirements of justice can be articulated without recourse to views about human inclinations and vulnerabilities. Second, Kant argues for a distinctive moral principle, which restricts the legitimate use of force to the creation of a system of equal freedom. Ripstein’s description of the unity and philosophical plausibility of this dimension of Kant’s thought will be a revelation to political and legal scholars. In addition to providing a clear and coherent statement of the most misunderstood of Kant’s ideas, Ripstein also shows that Kant’s views remain conceptually powerful and morally appealing today. Ripstein defends the idea of equal freedom by examining several substantive areas of law—private rights, constitutional law, police powers, and punishment—and by demonstrating the compelling advantages of the Kantian framework over competing approaches.

The Idea of Human Rights

The Idea of Human Rights PDF Author: Charles R. Beitz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199604371
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Get Book

Book Description
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.